


work on that self-confidence, okay?

by Nomadian_C



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Angst, Homosexuality, Humor, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, No Eggman, No Smut, Not too angsty though, POV Third Person Limited, Possibly Unrequited Love, Questioning, Self-Acceptance, Self-Esteem Issues, Self-Hatred, Slow Build, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-03
Updated: 2020-04-18
Packaged: 2021-01-21 12:26:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 28,919
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21299435
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nomadian_C/pseuds/Nomadian_C
Summary: Ray the Flying Squirrel is Star Light Technical High School's newest loser, and, of course, he immediately falls for Sonic the Hedgehog, one of the coolest, most genuine students there.It'd be a miracle if Sonic fell for him, huh?
Relationships: Sonic the Hedgehog/Ray the Flying Squirrel
Comments: 4
Kudos: 33





	1. bathroom

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for trying out my fic!
> 
> I will preface that all homophobic comments by any character do not reflect my own beliefs. Ray is just a sad boi who needs guidance. T_T Everyone else are atrocious people.
> 
> Hopefully you like where this is headed. I'll try to post frequently. :)

**TUESDAY**

Alone, again.

A squirrel watched shades of blue, green and white travel across an ultra-modern cafeteria. Other mobians chatted, laughed, and ate with each other in a collective state of bliss that he couldn’t be a part of.

It was the first of February, and, of course, on the month of togetherness, the squirrel sat lonesome. Almost every other student sat with another, satisfied with food and snacks that were subpar at best as long as they were shoulder to shoulder. Chatting, laughing, chomping… smiles passed around like unwanted lunch and home-brought salt and pepper.

The squirrel exhaled a deep breath. M-Maybe he should think of something else… 

He surveyed the traveling mobians' paths. There were just enough tables and chairs to curtail any extra navigation room throughout the cafeteria. Not only that, since the junior class of Star Light Technical High School was immense in both numbers and species (some of which needed two or _ three _ seats per mobian), finding a seat was like finding a suitable menu item, and they weren't even the only grade in lunch that period. Claustrophobia clung to the air, and despite the current, chill month, the crowd dispelled a humid warmth. A stuffy, humid warmth… Are showers a thing of the past or something?

The squirrel sighed. He nibbled on an apple at his small, vacant table, and stared through the remaining students taking their seats towards a faraway table of rowdy boys. He watched a mobian, a member of the infamous crowd of males, leaning on his elbow and speaking slightly more quietly than the others.

The observer was Star Light Tech’s newest addition, arriving two weeks after the subject of his gaze. Not even three days in, he was bullied into a fetal position by the worst seven guys in the building, brought to tears and pain without reason. The other male, on the other hand, was easily accepted into their group of friends, despite the fact he was an immensely-friendly mobian being.

In fact, the boys would have beaten the squirrel to a bloody pulp if the other had not intervened, reminding the assailants of the police’s possible involvement. That was the first time the squirrel locked eyes with the other: a royal blue hedgehog with a handsome face and vibrant green eyes.

Downcast by the sudden thought, the squirrel brought his gaze down to a metal bowl that once housed chili. He caught his reflection and frowned at the image, contemplating whether or not his bullies’ words were justified. After all, the squirrel was brought to believe that he resembled a female, owned piss-colored fur, looked like a dork with huge half-rim, strapped-on glasses, _ and,_ to top it all off, was most definitely the only homosexual person in the building.

He felt nothing but shame over that last part of himself. It's illegal in the United Federation's eyes and "intrudes" in his day-to-day life. Somewhat thankfully, nobody in the world knew (or, at least, knew for certain) except for him and his much-older sister, and the latter was told unintentionally through intractable sobbing. She prodded him for the reason, or any reason, for why he spent that night crying his heart out.

As the luckiest mobian in Star Light City, he discovered his sister was a proponent for gay rights after a slip-up that revealed his sexuality… But the squirrel shook his head. He didn’t want to remember that right then; she probably didn’t think about him at all anymore.

For now, the squirrel resumed his stare towards the most attractive male he’s ever seen in silence.

But that was a mistake.

One of the bullies noticed his gaze. The squirrel immediately looked down in panic, but was far too late, as the young man across the lunchroom grabbed a friend and marched towards the squirrel’s table with puffed chests and malicious grins.

Once he got there, the green woodpecker spat, “Hey, Sunshine. Do ya need somethin’?”

With his honey-brown muzzle about an inch from his bowl and his arms squeezing the sides of his body, the yellow mobian mumbled, “N-… N-No…”

The other mobian, a cream-colored polar bear, joined in, “Usually people stare when they want somethin’. Let me guess, you want one of our asses, don’t ya, shitface?”

The squirrel shook his head with eyes wide and hands shaking. He tried to hide his pure fear behind the tuft of hair that bounced in front of his face, but to no avail. The woodpecker slammed his hand on the table, making the terrified mobian skip a heartbeat and bite his lip.

“That shit better not be true, Sunshine, ‘cause there’s nothin’ more sick than another man droolin’ over me.”

The squirrel’s eyes began to water from the mountain of worry that weighed on his mental state. “I-I-I-… I kn-know—”

That was when a teacher on lunch duty walked by with her arms crossed. “Get back to your table and stay seated.”

The woodpecker scoffed and rolled his eyes. He quickly glanced back to the squirrel and smiled at the state he left him. The two bullies sauntered their way back to their table as she stood in front of the obviously agitated squirrel.

“Ray, are you alright? Were they bothering you?” the rabbit said in a hush.

Ray finally shifted his attention from his disappointing reflection and into another person’s eyes. He dishonestly smiled towards her, whispering, “Th-They weren’t Miss, I’m… I'm okay.”

**·X×X×X×X·**

It was next period, and it was Ray’s least favorite. He sat in the back of Miss Vanilla the Rabbit’s history class, listening to her lecture about a war that happened two-hundred years ago between six different (and insignificant) factions.

He never enjoyed history. While maybe he liked reading about how technology has evolved over time (whenever they actually get to it), all the reading and memorizing and writing and teaching on horrific events and dead people that do not matter anymore—at least to the squirrel—vexed him. He hated looking into the past, perhaps since his own frequently brought bad memories to light.

Nevertheless, there was something that made the painstaking lectures worthwhile. While Miss Vanilla offered a superb amount of kindness, that one other aspect turned a period that he otherwise would have despised into a high-point of his day.

The hedgehog was in that class.

Ray detested his previous schedule, which put him with various members of the "Bully Squad" in _ four different classes_. After he _ begged _ for a completely revised schedule, he was given one that let him share three classes with the hedgehog and only one with more than one bully, forcing Ray to lose an Honors class and an A-level class, but leaving him satisfied anyway.

Ray quickly learned that the hedgehog’s name was Sonic, a name apparently fitting since, according to his classmates, he was most definitely the fastest mobian in the district, if not the entire city. When he competed for the rival school’s track and field team, in any sprint, he was always seconds ahead of everyone else without even breaking a sweat. Some say he was even holding some speed back, like he didn’t want to embarrass the other runners _ even more _ than he already was.

Ray wouldn’t even doubt that latter observation anyway. From all he’s heard and seen, Sonic seemed like a pleasant person; he never disrupted the class; he worked (seemingly) hard on his schoolwork; he encouraged people to do their best; he cared about the environment; he had never beat and kicked another kid to the ground.

Sonic was the complete opposite from his group of friends. One can only ask why the hell he was with them in the first place.

Soon after Ray escaped his thoughts, Miss Vanilla made a pyramid with her fingers and smiled.

“And so, class, I’m going to split you into groups and ask you to act out the factions’ peace conference,” she announced as she read off of her smartboard. “You must make proper negotiations based on the necessities your faction had at the time…”

The teacher carefully went through her list for how her twenty-four students were divided. When she told the class who was in his group, Ray beamed.

“Ray, Verity, Sonic, and Blaze for Group E.”

After she finished, the students spent some time groaning before reluctantly joining desks together (with no care for the recently-waxed floor) and sitting with their randomized groups. Ray was a noticeable exception, as he was eager to go to his group’s corner of the room and take his seat. Sonic plopped down beside him after moving all four desks together, causing Ray to involuntarily blush, while Blaze lowered herself gracefully in front of the two men. The other young woman took a while to march to her seat and take it forcefully.

The unyielding girl, a blue jay named Verity, beamed at the hedgehog. “Hiiiii, Sonic.”

He leaned back in his chair and greeted, “Hey Verity.”

Blaze crossed her arms. She read the instructions from a laptop in front of her.

“Are you gonna join our track team?” Verity looked at the other with affection in her eyes. “You’re too good to not.”

Sonic slightly tilted his head in thought. “Uh, maybe. Though, this school has cross-country, right?”

“Tryouts already passed. ‘Sides, your old school didn’t?”

“Nah,” Sonic shrugged. “They ended it like three years ago. Something happened with a student or something…”

As Ray was examining the table’s pattern, Verity spoke to him with an ingenuine smile, “Hi there, Sunshine.”

Ray swallowed and continued to avert his eyes. “R-R-Ray…”

In his peripheral vision, Ray saw Sonic glare at Verity, which received a shrug from the indifferent bird. He then turned to him. “Hey, Ray, ‘fore I forget, I wanted to say sorry about those two from lunch.”

The squirrel turned his head slightly right, but still maintained eye contact with the table’s surface.

He could barely believe Sonic was talking to him. 

Ray didn’t want to take _ too _ long to respond, so he mumbled, “Hu— Uh, hm— Wh-Wha?”

Verity huffed out a laugh. Sonic repeated, “Uh, sorry about the two from lunch.”

Ray swallowed air and whispered, “Uh-Uhm… I-It’s o-o-okay…”

“No, it’s not,” Sonic sighed. “They gotta stop picking on y—”

Before he could say anymore, the patient cat next to Verity firmly reminded the group that there was an assignment to be done.

Blaze was the unyielding class president and the top of the junior class. She cared about her grades and image more than anything else, so her strict tone was understandable.

Everyone but Ray proceeded to discuss the assignment at hand, deciding on what their faction wanted and what it was willing to part. On the other hand, Ray waited for the moments in which Sonic voiced his opinions to stop scrutinizing the table and look at his face.

That was something else that separated Sonic from his friends: he actually had a brain. One or two of his other friends may have had a brain, but they were too self-absorbed in their hate for school that they never expressed it. How they were selected for even one Honors class would remain Ray’s biggest mystery.

In contrast, Sonic had valid points and knew how to argue them well. He listened to the others and discussed their points with an open mind (albeit with a side of stubbornness). Ray saw that Sonic had a thoughtful and intuitive mind, and he respected that more than anything else.

To Ray, Sonic was perfect.

How _ cringy_.

While he was mindlessly staring and deep in thought (despite such thoughts telling him to _ please _ stop), his groupmates took notice.

“Hey… hey, hey,” Verity snapped her fingers in Ray’s face until they snapped him back to reality. “You can daydream about Sonic during your alone time, Sunshine.”

Ray squeezed his arms with opposite hands. He turned to her and whispered, “R-Ray. And I… I w-wasn’t daydr-dreaming.”

“Yeah, sure. I hope you know he dates girls,” Verity opined. “He’s not a f—”

“And _ I _ hope you know that I don't need a second mouth,” Sonic interrupted with a smile. “Especially one that only knows how to gossip. That’d be _ an-noooy-ing_.”

Ray blushed from the hedgehog’s support. Not only did he speak to him just now, it seemed as though he also _ cared _ about him, at least somewhat. On the other end, Verity rolled her eyes and mumbled expletives under her breath.

Blaze narrowed her eyes and hissed at the blushing mobian, “_Anyway,_ have you been listening to any of the discussion?”

Ray looked down and lied, “Y-Yes…?”

“So, what was my conclusion just now?”

The mobian bit his lip and the table stared on. Without looking at any of them, he guessed a stutter-ridden win-win plan based on what _ he _ believed was the best course of action, which made Verity chuckle and Sonic cough.

Blaze frowned. “That wasn’t what we were considering…”

Ray lowered in his seat, ready to profusely apologize and bite his lip off. However, the cat continued.

“... but I agree. That actually makes more sense.”

While Verity frowned, Sonic smiled. “Yeah, it does. Let’s do it.”

The squirrel shifted in his seat. Sonic’s validation was enough to make Ray don a sizeable grin, something so small but so substantial.

**·X×X×X×X·**

Next was his second-to-last class, biology A-level (or biology for the best-of-the-best) and the last one he shared with Sonic. However, three of Sonic’s friends were there, and stringent assigned seating forced Ray to sit next to one of them. To Ray, the teacher was an inconsiderate man who blew off his request to move since he would "talk to people he didn’t like in the real world.” The student thought, however, that in the real world, people who needlessly beat up others were brought to the police or at least given a restraining order, making the teacher’s statement entirely null.

At some point, the squirrel started to assume that his seat at the back of the class was chosen because of his oversized tail. After days of just taking that as a satisfying explanation, he finally gave the seating some needlessly-careful thought and determined that—_maybe_—violent bullying was much more important than his tail blocking someone’s view of a PowerPoint about lipids.

As soon as he took his seat, one of the bullies, who was the woodpecker from earlier, already began. “Heard you were lookin’ at Sonic all class.”

Ray briefly freaked out and wondered how he knew, but remembered that his girlfriend was none other than Verity, the queen of gossip. He mumbled, “I-I-I was-wasn’t…”

“My girl don’t lie, Sunshine,” he whispered as he moved closer to Ray. He turned to Sonic, who was across the room, and voiced much louder, “Why don’t you just tell ‘im you want a piece of his ass?”

Ray blushed but panicked and grew upset, watching Sonic turn around and classmates around them start to laugh. He shook in his seat and bit his lip.

“Pl-Please… I-I d-d-don’t… I-I—”

“Hey, Sonic!” the woodpecker continued, enjoying the laughter from the surrounding women. “Sunshine here is thirsty as fuck for ya dick!”

“_N-No_… Pl-Pl-Please…”

“Heard that? He said _ please_!” the woodpecker’s friend shouted, followed by malicious laughter. 

Everyone around Ray, smiling wide and staring poison daggers into his vulnerable soul, chuckled, snorted, and howled. Ray felt their stares piercing through his heart, sending shockwaves throughout his entire body—from his watering eyes to the tip of his disgustingly-prolonged tail.

The shame prompted Ray to shoot up from his chair with tears leaking down his muzzle. He stormed out of the classroom, pushing the teacher aside as the pink hedgehog finally entered.

The distressed mobian speedily walked through the empty halls and into the men’s bathroom, slammed the fifth stall door behind him, perched himself on the toilet, and threw his glasses aside, letting his folded, clothed legs absorb every tear and sob.

He hated everything about himself: his shyness, his looks, his crying, his voice, his tail, his this and his that. Despite all of those, there was nothing in the world he hated more than his homosexuality. Why was he “cursed” with such nonsense? Why couldn’t he just find women attractive? Why did he have to like the one mobian who could never, ever, _ ever _ like him back? Why him? _ Why him? _

_ Why did he have to go through this _ _ again__? _

He let out every frustration in the form of tears, but his anger and heartache and confusion and sorrow still lingered, and perhaps even grew stronger as he continued to cry and wish for the worst to happen to himself. Ray wished to entirely disappear. He wished to be wiped off the face of Mobius.

Suddenly, he heard the restroom door open across the long row of stalls. Ray immediately stopped sobbing and quietly listened to the footsteps that motioned through the bathroom. After a few seconds, he heard a voice.

“Ray, you in here?”

The yellow mobian’s eyes widened. It was a distinct voice that wasn’t deep or whatever, but it was still pleasant to the ear. A voice that spoke concern and kindness. One that drew people in and established a feeling of comfort from the first word.

It was Sonic’s.

Ray raised his head from his navy pants and heard two voices feuding in his head.

_ Say something_. Keep quiet.

_ If you speak to him, you can become his friend._ As if he’d ever get close with someone like you.

_ He cares_. He doesn’t care.

_He can tell his friends to stop._ But that would make him a loser like you.

_ Then why is he here_? To make himself look good.

_ You’re too hard on yourself._ You’re being too hopeful.

_ He doesn’t care that you’re gay._ He’s repulsed by you.

While his brain was busy, Ray’s muscles were left on their own, prompting him to sniff his nose by accident. That kicked the voices out of his head and made his heart skip a beat.

“Ray, I can hear you,” Sonic said, gravitating towards the crying mobian’s stall. He stood there, waiting for a response, but received none. The hedgehog sighed, and continued. “I yelled at Bean after you left. We can just say that I gave him a… _ platter _ of my mind.”

Ray remained silent. Sonic walked into an adjacent stall, stayed inside for a moment, and stepped out. Suddenly a gloved hand holding tissue paper appeared from under the door.

“The stall you’re in never has toilet paper.”

Ray immediately checked and, of course, the toilet paper roll was empty. How and _ why _ did Sonic memorize that? He slowly set one foot on the ground, leaned forward, grabbed the ball of tissue, and returned to his original pose.

It was silent once again (excluding the taps of Sonic's foot), and maybe three minutes passed before Ray decided to whisper,

“Wh-Wh-… Why… are y-you st-still i-in… here?”

Sonic promptly responded, “Because I don’t want you to feel alone.”

Ray blushed, but the statement made his eyes water again. To Ray’s contentment, Sonic could not see any of it and the hedgehog continued.

“It’s real aggravating to see _ everyone _ laugh at his jokes. What, because of the possibility you’re gay? Because you wear glasses or ‘cause you like nerd stuff? I don’t get it.”

An image of the students laughing flashed through the squirrel’s mind. He let a tear escape his eyes, yet, it was not at all from the recollection. Instead, the tear fell from Sonic’s good-natured attitude towards him.

He knew he was kind, but why to _ him?_ He thought of himself as a pushover like no other, and Sonic was the complete opposite; his arm and leg muscles hinted at _ some _ sort of exercise, and while he was a nice person, he had never let anyone say the wrong things to him, possibly using his physique as a warning. Normal mobians of hedgehog-size _ don't _grow noticeable muscles. They just... _don't_.

But not only that, was Sonic seriously okay with his homosexuality? It was rare to meet someone who was straight and not fond of homophobic comedy, insults or assault…

_ Could he… Could he actually accept him? _

No… _ No way… _

_Why would he do something like that?_

Ray blinked and let more tears flow.

“Ray, though, you gotta keep your head up and speak out against him. He’s only picking on you because he thinks you’re weak. I bet you’re not, though, right?”

Ray mumbled, “N-N-No… I am…”

Sonic frowned. He sighed. “I don’t think so.” He waited a moment, but went on. “You know they’re gonna bully you, yet… you still go to school every day. You know they’ll be there, yet you still get A’s and do what you gotta do. You’re stronger than all of those guys combined.”

“So… wh-why are y-you fr-friends with… with them?” Ray mumbled after he looked up from his legs.

Sonic was quiet for a bit, but finally said, “I’m not. We don't even hang after school.”

That took Ray by surprise. Sonic sighed, then continued,

“Well, my first day here, Bark the Polar Bear started talking to me. I dunno if it’s because of how I did back in Hills Tech’s track team, or because I look like some sorta bro, but… he decided to drag me into his group of friends. They were cool and all at first, but pretty much _ a day _ later, I noticed how insanely cruel they were to others. I’ve been trying my best to tell ‘em to _not _ to be jerks while I'm still ‘part of the group.’ I'm being close but not too close. Almost like I'm… trying to be their conscience since, well, _ obviously_, none of ‘em have one. Thought they were getting better but I guess not…”

Ray sniffed his nose. That explained why someone so genuine was with the worst creatures on the planet. He wiped his button nose with a piece of the tissue ball.

Sonic took his smartphone out and glanced at the clock. It was eleven minutes into sixth period. He needed every minute of the class, as he was stuck with a grade of 79 and a teacher who didn’t believe in extra credit. So, he shoved his phone back into his pocket and assured Ray, “Just… don’t be ashamed of something that’s not hurting anybody, alright? You're perfectly fine. Real— Real, uh, cool… I’ll… just make sure they back off.”

"Th-Thank you…" Ray huffed out. He shook his head yes despite the physical barrier between his and Sonic’s vision. He wiped his face again using the rest of the toilet paper ball before Sonic said his goodbyes.

“Well, see ya later, Ray. Just remember what I said, and work on that self-confidence, okay?" Ray heard Sonic stop for a moment before saying heartfully…

"'Cause I mean it. And you deserve to respect yourself for… bein' you."

The words alone made Ray feel like he could do anything and everything. Sonic ended the meeting off.

"That's, uh, enough of that goopy sappy stuff," he uttered before coughing. "I’ll tell Mr. Rose you’re in guidance, 'kay?”

After his long, tearful silence, Ray finally spluttered, “O-Okay. I'll try my— uh, I… _ I won't le-let you down_. Th-Thank you… a lot.”

Sonic gave a ‘No prob,' despite Ray's strange promise, and began to leave the bathroom. Ray listened to the hedgehog step farther and farther away from his stall and open the door from across the room. However, he suddenly felt the need to ask, in a rare moment in which he broke through his shyness and somehow felt welcomed.

“W-Wait…”

Sonic’s footsteps turned silent. Ray cleared his throat, took a deep breath, and finally spoke.

“D-Do you… Do you want… C-C-Can we… be friends?”

Ray waited through a short bout of silence. He began to feel disheartened, but only because he could not see Sonic smiling from quill to quill with sparkles in green eyes. After that short moment of joy, the hedgehog completely surprised the other mobian with his gleeful answer.

“Thought we already were!”

After he shouted that, Sonic opened the door and left the restroom. Usually Ray would have felt loneliness after another had departed, but, instead, he felt like the happiest mobian alive.

He promptly stood from the toilet seat, grabbed his surprisingly intact glasses, and left after making sure the coast was clear. Avoiding his reflection in the mirror, the student meticulously washed his hands and left to the guidance counselor's office in higher hopes than normal.


	2. niblings

**TUESDAY**

Ray’s time at home that night was anything but productive.

His older sister and her boyfriend were in town, and she did not only visit on a Tuesday night, but she also dropped her two attention-seeking children off to the surprise of Ray _ and _ his mother, the latter being _ pissed _. One of them was an angsty eighth grade girl and the other was an indifferent sixth grade boy (thus maxing out the annoying-ness), and, just for that night, his mother told Ray to watch over them while she was gone for… whatever reason. Her workaholism carries her to and fro at any point of time, so staying home alone overnight was not something new for her son. On the other hand, Ray’s sister decided that the three haven’t spoken to one another in a long time, so a sleepover was inevitable. Ray couldn’t disagree more. _Don’t they have school tomorrow?_

So, negativity and headaches littered his night. His thirteen-year-old niece named Nadia seemed to only know how to eye-roll, speak sarcastically and watch videos on her phone. His eleven-year-old nephew named Pip only knew how to be discourteous, imperious and vulgar. Ray was forced to clean up after them and make them some sort of dinner, unless he was ready for a slew of insults thrown his direction. Pip screamed at the television during an online match in the living room, and Nadia used the only working port in Ray’s bedroom for both her phone and her laptop. Ray hated to admit it, but they walked all over him.

What made the night _even better_ was that his niece claimed his bed and the other took the only floor mattress in the house, forcing Ray to take refuge on the living room's plastic-covered couch. He finished as much homework as he could with an exhausted brain and climbed on top of the most uncomfortable surface he could sleep on.

Yet, somehow, Ray drifted off to sleep. His mind ventured through countless dreams that night, but only one took over. An experience that once warmed his heart now struck it with ice...

Sourmeca Village, his old town. Thick jungles and compact brick houses, adults tending gardens and children playing outside. Two of those kids were more thrill-seeking than the others, scaling up tall, mossy tree trunks to spot an ancient, abandoned ruin, ready to give it their all on finding lost treasure (if... they were more lucky than before).

He was anxious, but smiling. He was a squirrel who travelled everywhere he could, excited and stouthearted, never without his partner in crime...

_His old mighty friend..._

Ray's eyes shot open. A moment of staring at the ceiling overstayed its welcome, before he sighed deeply and held his head, now accompanied by an uninvited headache. _Never going to sleep on the couch again..._

Ray rubbed his eyes, finally ready to jump off his "bed." However, with a clearer mind, he noticed something a bit different about his surroundings. He squinted around the place, seeing how his living room was as typical as usual but… he was… able to see it…? Oh no.

It was much brighter than usual outside.

Ray immediately grabbed his phone and attempted to turn it on, however, the device retained a black, empty screen and refused to react to his hurried button presses.

The thing was dead, and so was his alarm.

The squirrel threw his thin blankets off the couch and hurried to the kitchen stove's clock. 

8:02 AM. Meaning that it was more than halfway through first period.

Basically _teleporting_ into his bedroom, he dressed himself in top-notch speed that would make even his friend impressed: forced his collared shirt to button, sloppily fixed his yellow-green striped tie, struggled to put on white cloth gloves, and hastily slid his navy pants and blazer on with much less concern for this huge tail than usual. During the rush, Ray momentarily woke his niblings up from his heavy, hurried steps.

Right… them… _ Was he not supposed to go to school? _ Ray wondered. He really wanted to go for once, so he didn’t lose his newfound friendship, one he could’ve lost in a heartbeat. Ray tightly shut his eyes and gulped at the mere thought.

Therefore, he announced that he was leaving for school, grabbed his backpack and let the two aggravations fend off for themselves.

Luckily for the student, the walk from his house to the school was no longer than twenty minutes, but this time, he dashed to his destination as quickly as he could, almost cutting the time in half. He was _ absolutely _ not as fast as Sonic, but Ray felt that the run was impressive for someone whose highest amount of physical activity was from his walk to and fro school. It was even more impressive that the squirrel was able to maneuver around and over patches of ice that could have easily left him without one of his two buck teeth.

Soon enough, Star Light Tech was in his sights. The olive-green, ultra-modern building routinely triggered melancholic thoughts as he approached it, but that day, despite his unscheduled morning workout, he was more cheerful than ever.

**·X×X×X×X·**

**WEDNESDAY**

Unfortunately, Ray missed homeroom, meaning he missed an opportunity to see Sonic before three (or, technically, two-and-a-sixteenth) long, lonesome class periods. He didn’t know a soul in English, was entirely independent in engineering, and refused to meet new friends in pre-calculus.

Finally, fourth period slowly but surely rolled in, feeding Ray’s anticipation with each hurried step towards his Spagonish class. He stumbled inside and waved to the teacher but not any other mobian, as he was a tad too early for any sane student's comfort.

Ray was faced with two choices. Either sit where he usually did—in the back of the class away from everyone else—or sit in that raccoon’s seat—right next to his new friend Sonic.

Though, he thought for a bit... were they _ really _ friends like that? Sonic was only in the bathroom to comfort a crying stranger, right? But how will he know if he doesn’t try? How can they become better friends if he didn’t take initiative, sit next to him and speak first? Despite the sensible questions in his head, the squirrel succumbed to his shyness and returned to his usual seat.

And that _is_ that raccoon's seat.

Once the students began to enter, Ray tracked a blue mobian as he stepped inside and took his seat with eyes glued on his phone and ears accompanied by earbuds. He also noticed that the raccoon never walked in before the teacher began her lecture.

Ray blinked. The seat next to Sonic was empty and free for the taking, but class had already started. He _ could _ raise his hand and ask to move up, but that would cause intense staring from the others. He _ could _ stand from his seat and walk on his own, but the teacher might intervene, and that could cause even _ more _ intense staring. He _ could _ ask the kid next to him to—

Oh wait, he could.

The student next to Ray was a kind, optimistic lemur (rare species unite, he guessed). He quietly tore a piece of notebook paper and wrote ‘May I move up? Ray’. He nervously placed the sheet on the lemur’s desk, and once she noticed and glanced at him, the squirrel pointed at the teacher.

She knew how quiet and fearful Ray was (since _ everyone _ knew how quiet and fearful Ray was), so the message was clear enough. The lemur stood from her seat, hurried to the front of the class, and placed the paper in the lecturing teacher’s hand. Agitated, the adult ordered the student to never do that again while she taught, but read it quietly, looked at the uneasy squirrel with an eyebrow raised and slowly nodded.

_She... She somehow did it worst way possible.  
_

And so, exactly what Ray was avoiding pointed at him with disdain: people’s stares. The cold, disparaging looks he despised so much. Judgment showered him at that very moment, as they smiled and waited for the mobian's next idiotic move. What was he thinking?

Ray decided to wait until everyone was engaged with the lecture. However, to his greatest dismay, another student saw the opportunity and took the seat without asking. He took notes in the front row diligently, since the student actually left his glasses at home.

Damned Chaos.

Ray sulked in his seat and let out his disappointment in some buck-teeth pen chewing. The lemur took notice, and, at the end of class before leaving, she tapped on the squirrel’s shoulder and said,

“Dude, next time, just come early and sit there.”

The squirrel sighed as she left. Why must he be the most awkward being on the planet?

**·X×X×X×X·**

Following a tedious lunch period of absolutely _ no _ staring, Ray was back inside Mrs. Vanilla’s history classroom, after overthinking things through the first half before lunch. Sonic walked in with his phone again, but that time, he freed his eyes from the screen and waved to the other mobian. Ray grinned and greeted back.

Yet, Verity immediately sat next to the blue hedgehog and started to talk to him. She did not take long to turn to Ray, force a grin, give a fake wave, and run her mouth at Sonic again. She was doing it on purpose.

Ray gulped. This halved-period was his last chance to speak to Sonic. He wanted to ask him all kinds of things; who his favorite music artist was; if he liked video games; if he had social media the squirrel could follow; when his birthday was; what his workout schedule was… if that wasn’t _ too _ weird to ask. Ray lowered his head and thought about hanging out with the hedgehog, which only made him more upset.

But, to his surprise, and most definitely everyone else's, the blue jay suddenly exclaimed _ 'What!? _' towards the other mobian, threw herself out of her chair and plummeted in another as far away from Sonic as she could.

Of course, the class was turned silent. It was such a sudden contrast from Mrs. Vanilla’s soft-spoken teaching to Verity’s booming exclamation. So much so that the teacher had to escort the bird out of the class and ask what in the _ world _ the issue was.

With commotion following the incident between the other classmates, Ray spotted his opportunity and, remembering his mistake from earlier and seeing everyone’s distracted state, hurried to the open seat next to the hedgehog who was just as confused as everyone else, if not more.

In his new chair, he watched Verity rush back inside, take her belongings, and rush out again in pure, unbridled anger.

It took a while before the class settled down and the teacher returned without a clear answer. She resumed her class anyway and gave out online work for everyone to complete.

Upon opening his school-issued laptop, the squirrel turned to Sonic's desk and hesitantly asked, “Wh... Wh-What was… uh, that about?”

The hedgehog shook his head. “Nothing important.” He changed the subject. “Are you feelin’ alright today?”

Ray frowned from the dismissal of his question, but continued anyway. “U-Uh… Well, y-yeah, I, uh, had _ plenty _ of sleep… D-Despite the fact I have nib-niblings visiting, and they’re b-being… well, a-annoying.”

“Niblings..?”

“A n-niece and nephew,” Ray clarified. He ran his fingers through his forehead-hair. “I-I dunno h-how I slept the whole night w-without either of ‘em setting me on f-fire.”

Sonic gave out a laugh, not minding Ray’s stuttering. Ray grinned. The hedgehog responded, “Yeah, I feel ya, man. I was 'encouraged' to babysit from time-to-time for some quick cash. The older ones were the _ worst_.”

Ray groaned. “And th-that’s what they are. Two enti-titled, pre-t-teen pooheads.”

“Really? Well, for some of them, I gave ‘em a video game or something while I went out to run. They were distracted for hours,” Sonic smiled. He narrowed his eyelids. “_Maayybe _ I wasn’t ‘babysitting’ as much as I thought.”

Ray exhaled from his nose, showing some sort of laughter. “You s-still got paid, though.”

“Oh yeah,” Sonic chuckled.

A short bit of silence caught on before Ray stuttered again, “Sp-Speaking of vid-video games, who— uh, what… What, um, systems do you have?”

“Uhh…” Sonic trailed off, but continued. “Well, I have— Actually, maybe it’d be better if you told me what _ you _ have.”

Ray raised a brow, but did what was requested anyway and said, “I have the, uh, Switch. And a 3DS… but th-that’s it.”

“Me too,” Sonic beamed. “Know your ID? I can get your friend code later…”

“O-Oh, okay. Well, m-my ID is xRayTFS.”

“Ah, short and sweet… Wait, RayTFS… Hmm… T.F.S?” Sonic pondered for whatever reason. After a few seconds, he spoke again. “Is that something like SonicTH?”

“Maybe…?” Ray had no idea what the other was getting at. Oh no, unless—

The other smiled at a sudden revelation. “So, wait… you’re a _ flying _ squirrel?”

Ray’s eyes shot open as fast as he clenched his arms towards his body. Arms that kept his... "wings" close to his sides and nowhere else.

Ugh, his wings, or whatever he should call those skin flaps. From his wrists to the side of his thighs were two large, thin sheets of skin and muscle that helped him glide around with glee when he was younger.

Now, with a slightly heavier body (even though he was still a twig) and an insecure mindset, he hid them against tight clothing and, as of now, a general uniform rather than the specially-crafted uniform SLT offered him. He couldn't _imagine_ showing them off in the open like _they _were suggesting. He'd rather just... feel the uncomfortable pain hiding them often brought.

Ray sighed deeply. Finally acknowledging Sonic's question, Ray whispered, “Uh…”

Sonic kept his smile but raised a brow. “Wait, you didn't want anyone to know that, yet…?”

“I… I m-made that ID wh-when I was, uh, younger,” Ray mumbled.

“Before you got embarrassed over stuff like that.”

Sonic noticed Ray turned more uncomfortable from the comment. He quickly frowned, “Woah, woah, no need to get upset. Bein’ honest, that's actually pretty neat.”

Ray fixed his eyesight on his desk. “Wait… Y-You... You r-really think so?”

“I _ think _ so? You have a power without really having one.” Sonic grinned, but it turned solemn ever so slightly. He checked his phone. “Again, you shouldn’t be ashamed of stuff that makes you unique.”

Ray looked up to his friend, who donned a very genuine smile again. The sight was unnerving from the sheer rarity of it. The flying squirrel couldn’t be happier.

That was when the bell rang and the class quickly dismissed. Ray stayed in his seat, unlike his new friend, and dreaded the class that was to come.


	3. too.fast4u623

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... if you're not on mobile, I would like to warn you that the texting parts may be a little... cumbersome to read. Try to minimize the window or something to make it less of a workout? X~X;
> 
> I'm so sorry for that! >_<;

**WEDNESDAY**

The squirrel traipsed through the hall with his head down and his brain working. His thoughts pondered throughout several scenarios that could happen once he entered Mr. Rose’s biology A-level class.

The teacher could reprimand him for “skipping” his class yesterday. Bean could bully him as soon as he walked in again. The other students could laugh and chant his usual nickname.

Or, perhaps, the teacher could greet him as usual. Bean could ignore him as per Sonic’s request. The other students could disregard him and maybe even apologize.

Yeah, as if. But either extremes could occur, and the former terrified the flying squirrel. He was only a few feet away from the class’s door, and a few seconds away from the sixth period bell going off, yet he paused before walking in.

However, a familiar lemur walked by and stopped upon seeing him. She sauntered to his side and assured Ray, “Dude, are you standing here because of yesterday? ‘Cause, if you heard what Sonic said to Bean after you left, you wouldn’t be so scared to go in.”

She continued through the classroom’s door with a smug grin. Her reassuring words prompted Ray’s legs to work again, and his eyes roamed the room once he entered.

Everyone stared, including the teacher. Bean narrowed his eyes at the squirrel while Sonic widened his. Ray’s chest began to freak out, but before he could mope backwards, Mr. Rose spoke.

“Sonic and Bean, may you exchange seats?”

The entirely-unexpected question stopped the squirrel dead in his tracks. He turned to Sonic, who smiled wide and didn’t hesitate to stand up and head towards the back. Bean picked up his bag and moved to the front in a calmness that chilled Ray to the bone. Ray quickly scurried to his seat.

After a brief, useless talk about bullying, the teacher prompted the students to take some notes off of a PowerPoint presentation he lazily put together. That gave Sonic an opportunity to speak to the other.

“It’s cool I sit here?”

“T-Two-hundred percent,” Ray smiled. “I-I-I’ve been wanting to m-move, or someone to move, f-for a while.”

“And he didn’t do either until something bad happened,” Sonic whispered while rolling his eyes and writing what was on the board. Ray preferred typing in his school-issued laptop.

Mr. Rose told whoever was speaking to be quiet. He continued to read off the current slide.

Ray asked his friend as he typed, “So you… S-So you did say something after I, uh, left?”

Sonic breathed in. “Well yeah, I had to. It was really annoying. I yelled at him because I already told him to leave you alone.”

“And Mr. Rose wasn’t m-mad?”

“He was at first, but, I talked to him after class and I _ guess _ he understood from the looks of it.”

The teacher, now knowing who to yell at, asked Sonic to stop talking. The presentation ended once he assigned book work for the class to do.

Ray, on another note, felt buoyant. He had someone like Sonic, star athlete and charisma machine, defending him. Someone who Ray previously imagined would never want to speak to a stuttering, awkward mess like him. Someone who veritably cared about him despite the stigma surrounding his apparent sexuality.

Ray wished he could latch onto that feeling forever.

The two spent the rest of the class period getting to know each other’s interests; Sonic’s didn’t really have a favorite music artist while Ray’s was Shinedown; Sonic’s favorite food was chili dogs while Ray’s was pistachio anything; Sonic had an Instagram and so did Ray, leading to each mobian adding the other (using Sonic’s phone only, since Ray’s was back home).

That was the best of what they exchanged before the class was dismissed.

**·X×X×X×X·**

Ray returned home to his sister and her boyfriend visiting in anger.

While Ray waited for his phone to charge in the kitchen, his sister yelled at the squirrel for leaving her children (that _ she _ haphazardly dropped off) home alone. She was usually a thoughtful and responsible person, but, at least in Ray's opinion, her boyfriend brought the nastiest out of her.

Thankfully, Ray’s mother was home for once, and she was also furious about the two’s sudden appearance and drop-off before a school-day. She cared about Ray’s education more than anything else (except her job) and could not believe that they would expect Ray to take care of two kids, overnight, before school, by himself, underaged.

The four family members left in needless exasperation. Ray almost let a tear out, but his mom stopped him before he began.

“It’s not your fault, hun,” she reassured, holding onto an earpiece that almost fell during the argument. “Those two think they can do whatever, whenever.”

Ray rubbed his eyes and his mother took a few seconds to regain her composure. She prepared a blender and brought out some whole milk.

She sighed and finally continued, “I would’ve expected you to stay over, though.”

“Wh-Why?”

“I dunno,” she opened the fridge and took out various berries. “Just did. Something you were expecting today?”

Ray was silent for a moment before finally whispering, “Yeah, I-I… made a friend.”

He heard the other mobian give an elongated gasp. She turned to her son and asked with a large smile, “_ Really_!? Male or female? Do they like video games and animes like you?”

Ray blinked and slightly smiled. “Uh, he’s a guy. He, uh, has a Sw-Switch, t-too. I-I dunno about anime.”

“That’s still great, hun!” she exclaimed before continuing. She brought out a banana and asked, “Are you going to invite him over anytime soon?”

“Probably not,” he looked to his side. “I dunno if w-we’re friends like that.”

“R-Right,” she mumbled while she cut the banana in pieces. “You _ just _ made the friend. Well, uh, what’s his name? Ooh, do you have his number?”

Ray was slightly freaked out by her question barrage, but went along with it anyway. “Uh, h-his name… Well, his n-n-nickname is Sonic. He was the best runner fr-from th-th… an-n-nother school. And, uh, no actually. But, I can t-talk to him on Instagram.”

“Oh, right,” his mother chuckled. “Kids these days don’t talk on the phone anymore. It’s all that social media. And, wait, a runner? An athlete? That’s different—”

Suddenly, her earpiece beeped. She held it, gave some quiet affirmations, and turned it off. The woman sighed, “I gotta go, hun. Be safe, okay? There’s a TV dinner in the freezer if you get hungry.” She grabbed some ice from said compartment.

“Okay, mom,” Ray said, staring at his slow-to-charge phone. “Love you.”

“Love you too, Ray.” She hurriedly dumped the fruit, ice and milk into the blender, and then let it run. She poured her half-homogeneous mix into her cup, grabbed her keys and wallet and kissed her son goodbye on the forehead. Before he knew it, she was gone.

That was a normal occurrence in Ray’s life when his mom was a… whatever she was. She never told him what her new job was and even refused to give her son a hint. All he knew that she received paychecks that housed as much as what she and her ex-husband made combined. That fact was clear from her sudden spending and his unexpected allowance. It was shadier than one can imagine, but he never paid too much attention to it.

Ray stood and stretched, quite annoyed by his phone battery’s slow progression. He strolled into the living room, grabbed the remote, belly-flopped onto the couch and set the television on live news.

The program featured a clearly upset hedgehog woman speaking to a reporter. Tears were smeared across her face and she shook her head.

“N-None of this… None of this would’ve happened had... had...”

Ray sighed. He heard the reporter ask, “You think if he had been allowed to use his powers, he would still be here today?”

“Yes, yes I do…” the mother started to sob. The scene cut to a pair of news anchors feeling stoically sorry for the mother. Ray breathed in and breathed out deeply in frustration.

Everyone remembered. Even he did at his young age and it couldn't stop flooding his thoughts: the Christmas Compromise of 2025. One day some years ago, a terrorist group of ability-users wanted to show the world just how “superior” they were to everyone else. And so, they brutally slaughtered more than four-thousand mobians across the small landmass known as Christmas Island with extreme ease and precision. It was so clean and precise, that only four of the murderers were ever apprehended, with a suspected forty still out there. 

And so, Christmas Island proposed a complete ban of all ability usage after its country lost 2.6% of its entire population. The percentage seemed miniscule, yet it was evidently significant. It raised concern throughout the United Federation, as they realized that 2.4% of Station Square or Central City would erase millions of mobians off of Mobius’ surface.

The fact that the small group of power-using mobians was able to kill so quickly and neatly forced the governing body to rush out a series of laws that made their, and countless others’, existences illegal. Security cameras started to appear everywhere. Abnormality sensors were upgraded to near-perfection. Not a single member of society was able to flaunt their powers in public without someone gaining the opportunity to cash out a five-to-nine-hundred dollar check and send them to federal prison.

Many deemed the action unfair. Any person who would help fight off a criminal using their abilities were hauled into prison alongside them. And, while being born with a power was as rare as it got, they were then forced to hide what made them unique and blend in with the rest.

The compromise was sixteen years ago. At the time, many people applauded the changes, afraid that they may lose a loved one. But as years went on, more and more dissenters began to speak up from all walks of life, afraid that, one day, a powerful villain can emerge and murder far more than the terrorists did in 2024.

Ray shut the television off. He laid down for a while, but the sound of his phone completing its charge threw him off the couch. He immediately tapped the 'Message' button under 'too.fast4u623', and took it upon himself to initiate conversation… for once… somehow.

**·■[ ]■[ ]■[ ]■·**

[ Hi. Is this Sonic? ]_

4:46 PM

_[ yo wassup ]

_[ you have some good memes on your page lmao ]

4:53 PM

[ Really? They’re pretty geeky. ]_

4:53 PM

_[ well guess im part of the geek squad ]

4:54 PM

[ But… geeks aren't good at sports lol. ]_

4:54 PM

_[ says who?? hahsha ]

4:56 PM

[ The goss. ]_

[ gods** ]_

4:56 PM

_[ guess they cant think out of cliches lmao ]

4:56 PM

[ Hehe. ]_

4:56 PM

[ What are you doing right now? ]_

4:57 PM

_[ chillin ]

4:59 PM

[ Cool. :) ]_

4:59 PM

_[ im about to go running ]

4:59 PM

[ Oh. ]_

4:59 PM

[ Am I bothering you? ]_

5:00 PM

[ nah, we can still talk. i have mobile data and

_[ the peripheral vision of a god ]

_[ i think can see chun-nan from here :O ]

5:03 PM

[ Omfg lol. Okay. ]_

[ Please be safe though. ]_

5:03 PM

[ Oh yeah!! My friend code. I’ll send it. ]_

5:04 PM

[ [Attached image] ]_

[ :D ]_

5:05 PM

_[ cool. we can smash later ]

5:08 PM

**·X×X×X×X·**

Ray found himself blushing at a related thought.

**·■[ ]■[ ]■[ ]■·**

[ Main? ]_

5:08 PM

_[ little mac ]

5:09 PM

**·X×X×X×X·**

Ray involuntarily cringed.

**·■[ ]■[ ]■[ ]■·**

[ Oh cool. Mine is Pichu. ]_

5:09 PM

_[ he's adorably dangerous ]

5:09 PM

[ Ikr? ]_

[ Menace to society! XD ]_

5:10 PM

_[ lmaooo ]

5:11 PM

**·X×X×X×X·**

Ray heard a buzz from his phone that wasn’t accompanied by one of Sonic’s texts. He checked the notification and it came from a different user on Instagram, one he barely recognized, as he followed them back yesterday without putting in much thought. The user’s profile image and feed were blank, and their name was “throwaway675399”, creeping the squirrel out. He checked the message and it read…

“You’re gonna die afterschool tomorrow and nobody at SLTech will miss you, F**.”

Not only that, the message was not alone, since it was accompanied by something miles more heart wrenching to the already petrified squirrel:

A photo of his street—and his house.

Ray’s eyes were wide, and full of fear. He studied the message with a straight face and a cold sweat. He felt his heart pacing and his hands trembling as his eyes went over the text for the fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth time. The squirrel slowly took a screenshot and returned to his conversation with Sonic.

**·■[ ]■[ ]■[ ]■·**

[ [Attached image] ]_

[ Imm scared Sonoc wtff?? ]_

5:14 PM

_[ what,, who sent that? ]

5:14 PM

[ Im crying ]_

[ I dont know… im scaref ]_

5:15 PM

_[ deep breaths. dont cry man ]

_[ not a soul will touch you on my watch ]

5:15 PM

_[ im going to stay by you ]

[ we can walk the halls togteher. Ill leave class 

_[ as fast as i can and meet you. ]

5:16 PM

[ It says afterschool ]_

5:16 PM

[ then ill walk you home. know that with me

_[ youre safe okay? ]

5:16 PM

_[ we can also get the police involved… ]

5:17 PM

NO. I don't think that's a good idea.. ]_

5:18 PM

_[ okay. i was gonna advise against it anyway ]

_[ dont be scared ray, i got your back ]

5:18 PM

[ but… They might hurt you ]_

5:19 PM

_[ they wont ]

5:20 PM

**·X×X×X×X·**

The words both reassured and terrified Ray. He wiped his tears and stared at his screen with shaky hands. He received another message. The squirrel reluctantly opened it.

**·■[ ]■[ ]■[ ]■·**

[ Dont think sonic will save you fucker, your 

[ a shitstain on society. Think the world want 

[ f*****s like you? think again. Im doing 

_[ everyone a favor. Die ]

5:19 PM

**·X×X×X×X·**

Ray’s breaths started to get heavy and his body vehemently shook. Tears raced down his cheeks as he looked to the right.

To the right of the circular dining table was his confined living room and the front door. Thankfully, the door was accompanied by a new security alarm control panel to its right, and so the squirrel quickly hopped from his chair and turned it on, afraid his intimidator had sooner thoughts.

He excused the messenger’s disgust, but didn’t understand why they had to threaten death. Was he really that much of a bother? That much of a distraction? The squirrel clenched his arms to his body. The creeks of the floorboards below him were accompanied by faint weeps.

Ray took another screenshot and sent it to Sonic. Back on his chair, he buried his muzzle in his knees as he rocked on the dining table chair and texted.

**·■[ ]■[ ]■[ ]■·**

[ [Attached image] ]_

5:22 PM

[ :( ]_

[ I shouldnt go to school tomorrow. ]_

5:23 PM

[ I don’t wantyou dealing with this. ]_

[ You’r too nice to deal with this. ]_

5:24 PM

If they hirt you it wuld be mt ffault and you ] l

[ sholdnt deall withnthat. ]_

5:25 PM

[ Im sory you becane myfriend sonic ]_

5:27 PM

**·X×X×X×X·**

Ray delved deeper and deeper into a vortex of low spirits after sending the text messages. The stress, the hatred, the guilt. All three danced and swung and screamed in his head until a violent pain began to throb behind his right temple and slumber eventually took over.

**·X×X×X×X·**

The mobian opened his eyes to a grim darkness, excluding the small, lonesome ceiling light that illuminated the kitchen's brand-new stove. Over the stove top he saw the time—1:04 AM—and it disappointed him, having his entire night engulfed by sleep. He glanced to his right and saw pitch darkness, which afflicted unease into his chest and forced the squirrel to run upstairs to his room to take refuge.

For the rest of the morning before school, Ray played two action-comedy movies in the background as he completed his homework and rushed through a project... or as much as he could while freaking out about the anonymous texts.

Earlier, he questioned if he should even go to school, assuming it would have been best if he didn’t bother the messenger and endanger Sonic. However, after putting in much thought as he completed biology homework, Ray concluded that, perhaps, he let strong emotions control his earlier texting. The squirrel vividly remembered the words Sonic said to him in the restroom, and he was all the more eager to walk through those front doors.

He _ is _ stronger than them. Sonic said so.

He _ has _to go. Sonic wants him to.

He _ can't _let them get to him. Sonic wouldn't want that.

_ He just can't let his new friend down. _

By now, _ nothing _ would stop him from going.


	4. fracasados

**THURSDAY**

Ray chose to go early and walk a longer route, just in case he met the messenger the usual, most efficient way. Beyond a broken wired fence and a large “backyard” (that was more akin to a field than a backyard), the yellow mobian sauntered his way through a far-ish-away street that left him in slight envy.

The houses, if they should be called houses, were no less than three floors tall, pleasant to look at, and large enough to horizontally fit Ray’s house twice. Only three of these mansions spanned the entire street on each side, amounting to six gorgeous structures, where Ray’s street tried to cram as many houses as possible on one small street, ignoring the invasion of the tenants’ personal space. Thus, these mansions were comfortably apart, and the space allowed them to have a sizable “backyard”, an oversized front yard, an actual tool shed, and a garage. Ray’s floor-and-a-half-tall home was left without all four of these.

One specific house always caught the squirrel’s attention. While the others were pastel colored, the one in thought was a deep night blue. The homeowners’ need to be distinct slightly ruined the street’s overall design, but it still looked the coolest nonetheless; the clash between the navy blue and white throughout its walls and trim resonated with the squirrel. He wished to have a house like that one day, while, for now, he was complacent with his small, red, barely-functioning shack. Just… complacent.

Ray finished gawking at the houses, as he was a few streets away from the school. He slowed his pace and scanned his surroundings for anyone who was staring, waiting, watching... but found no such person on his way through the school’s gates. They _ did _ say after school, but Ray felt no need to be inattentive, especially if he was walking alone.

That was when he realized something. He never checked Sonic’s texts to see where they would meet, when they would meet, or how they would meet. Did Sonic even reply to his cringey, depressing texts? How can Ray forget something like that?

Or, well, he didn’t forget. Ray was mostly afraid to see what kind of response the hedgehog had for the squirrel. Would he think Ray was too high maintenance? Too much of a crybaby? Was he bothering him too much with his problems? Ray worried about the impending messages, and, after crouching under a large, hanging tree in front of the school’s entrance and away from the walkway, he finally read them, slowly opening one shut eye after a nervous tap of Sonic’s username.

**·■[ ]■[ ]■[ ]■·**

[ Ray, i need you to know. Youre not, in ANY

[ way imaginable, in the fault. If i get hurt, itll be

[ because of the guy sending the texts. Idc if I

[ get hurt cause itll happen while defending u,

[ my friend. I want to deal w this. I wont let them

[ win, ans neither should you. If you dont go to

[ school tomorrow, i wont hate you, k? But if we

[ want this to end, go. I will be there. Dont listen

[ to that text, ray. They couldnt be more wrong

[ sbout you. Im glad we’re friends. This shows

[ that the world needs more guys like u. And i

[ dont care at all if youre gay, cause youre

[ a decent mobian being too, unlikr these other

_[ losers. ]

7:12 PM

[ sorry for responding late.. meet me at tje 

_[ outside lounge when you get to school ]

7:13 PM

_[ ray? ]

7:47 PM

_[ hey man are u ok? ]

8:19 PM

_[ reply wben u can ]

8:36 PM

**·X×X×X×X·**

Ray’s emotions descended from emotional appreciation to growing worry as he read. He hastily replied (in vain), but realized that getting up and sitting at the lounge would, instead, be most ideal.

The squirrel rushed towards the entrance of the school, but turned left to enter a small, shaded, outdoor student lounge. He positioned himself at a small table that was partially obscured by the building’s walls, separating his image from any student’s eyes as they entered the building. He sighed deeply before checking new messages.

**·■[ ]■[ ]■[ ]■·**

Sonic, I’m so sorry!! I fell asleep early, woke ] l

up at like 1, and did my homework all ] l

[ morning… >_< ]_

6:54 AM

[ its cool. i thought u fell asleep or ur phone

_[ died ]

6:57 AM

_[ it was weird not seeing u reply asap tho lol ]

_[ not that thats bad. ]

_[ its cool, trust me ]

6:58 AM

_[ youre fine w the asap thing ]

_[ ill be there in 2 mins ]

6:59 AM

**•X×X×X×X•**

Ray waited under the shade and away from the arriving students’ gazes. The chair was uncomfortably cold and stiff, and he wondered why such an awkward lounge was positioned there anyway. While he was blocked off from the people walking through the entrance, if they really wanted to, anyone could see him through the oversized window (if they could see past his tail, that is), that divided him from the hallway and cafeteria indoors.

Not too long after he sat down, tiredness began to creep into the squirrel’s brain, and so, he closed his eyes to satiate the sudden exhaustion. He shouldn’t be surprised; his body was fueled with nothing but yesterday’s lunch and a quick nap, only for the squirrel to surprise his inactive, unfed body with the earlier mile run.

He started to doze off, up until he felt two light taps on his shoulder.

"AGH—" Ray shot his eyes open and launched out of his chair, throwing it on the ground, only to see Sonic’s familiar grin in front of him. The other laughed. Hard. Ray groaned.

After a bit more chuckling, Sonic tried to regain his breath. “Think… haha... Think—pfft—you can stay up all day?”

Ray breathed in and out. He shrugged. “Probably not.”

Sonic let all of his giggles out as he lifted the red backpack that was sliding off his right shoulder. He donned a semi-serious look. “Might be a good idea to stay on guard, but I got your back either way.”

Ray nodded and smiled. The flying squirrel and hedgehog cautiously left the lounge and entered the building together up a mountainous staircase and through a set of modern double doors. Inside, they were greeted with a long, towering shelf of trophies and awards, along with an overview of the cafeteria to its right. Students in blue were scattered throughout the halls already, loitering and chatting with friends, or independently heading off to breakfast and homeroom. Four female students from four different clics greeted Sonic with glee. Others were confused about the never-before-seen pair walking side to side.

Ray and Sonic walked along the edge that hung over the school’s vast cafeteria. Ray watched students pay for bruised fruits, bitter drinks and sandpaper pancakes, or sit with friends to converse about their time after yesterday’s school day. Sonic’s group of “friends” were among the latter group, loud enough so that the squirrel heard almost every word.

They mentioned his nickname. Multiple times.

“Hungry?” Sonic asked his new friend.

The other turned his head and shook it. “N-No… Y-You?”

“Nah, had a banana and some coffee this morning,” his friend replied.

“H-How balanced,” Ray let a sarcastic comment slip. It momentarily freaked him out, up until Sonic replied with a smile.

“Oh, come on! I ate every food group: fruit, dairy, veggies, protein…”

“V-Veggies and protein?” Ray flatly asked.

“Aren’t they called coffee _ beans _ for a reason?” The comment forced the squirrel to playfully roll his eyes. Just thank goodness Sonic was fine with his sarcasm.

Both students climbed three flights of stairs, faster than Ray usually did every morning, and they made it to the fourth floor. Sonic breathed easy while his friend was bent over with hands on his knees and heavy wheezing out of his throat.

Sonic raised a brow and smiled. “You cool, man?”

Ray managed to respond between heavy breaths, “Uh… n-no… I j-just need to w-work out more…”

“Do you?” Sonic asked. “What happened to Fitness Club?"

Ray paused. He _paused_. Dreadful memories immediately came flooding in. Three days after coming to SLT back in December, he made the sad mistake of joining that club and violently humiliated himself playing volleyball his first day. _ Never_, _ ever _ again. Thing is, how did Sonic know he was there? … W-Was _ he _ there? _ Don't say he was there oh Chaos no oh no don't please_… 

The squirrel shook his head harshly. "I-I-I— Well, I-I left th-that day after… k-kinda emb-embarrassing myself… Y-You weren't there r-r-right?"

Sonic let out a 'hmph'. "I was, but I left early."

Ray suddenly felt like a trillion dollars; he let out the most satisfying breath known to man.

The hedgehog shrugged. "Well, then, I can bring a buddy to _ my _ gym, if you want.”

Ray’s muzzle slightly turned red at… thoughts. He looked away. “Wh-What? N-No, you don’t have to… I’ll j-just jog around my n-neighborhood. Starting tomorrow…” He falsely grinned.

Sonic shrugged with a smile. “Whatever you say, dude. At least you’re doin’ something.”

The two were finally in front of Sonic’s homeroom, ten minutes before morning announcements were to begin. Ray turned to his friend while admiring his sleek, red, out-of-dresscode shoes. Was that buckle real gold?

He shook his head and asked, “Uh… so, are y-you going to meet me—?”

“Mmhm,” Sonic interrupted. “I’ll be right there when the second bell rings.”

Ray nodded. He started to head off, but turned to his friend again with a frown. “W-Wait, but… how about y-you?”

Sonic raised a brow and asked, “Whatcha mean?”

“H-How about _ your _ classes? I-I-I don’t want you to be late f-for any of them…”

“I’ll be alright, Ray,” the hedgehog winked. “Remember? Best runner in the district? Teachers love me?”

“... _ Riiight_,” Ray mused. Many teachers really _ did _ like Sonic, despite the fact it was his first year at Star Light Tech. To be honest, _ everyone _ liked Sonic. And so, he could probably avoid punishment just by being _ him_.

The two mobians departed to their respectful homerooms, in which they barely heard the morning announcements over others’ chatter and finished whatever remaining homework was left from the night before.

**·X×X×X×X·**

Monotone chimes sounded before and after each class period, signaling each student to transfer or remain in their respective classrooms. And, no later than thirty seconds after each end-of-the-period bell, Sonic was beside Ray’s classroom door, committed to keeping any potential harm from his new friend. Ray felt quite guilty when he watched Sonic jog down the hall after the third-period bell rang, but was reassured by a text that promised he was alright and, somehow, not facing any kind of punishment… Not even a _ warning_.

Third period was Ray’s pre-calculus class, and he received the highest test scores out of all of his classmates. All of his teacher’s praises felt heartwarming for, perhaps, two seconds, but they soon drew attention from the others. Nearly everyone began to consult him for help, or they simply shoved it in his face and forced him to do the work for them.

One of those students was part of the Bully Squad. He was the most enigmatic student in the school, despite the fact many people knew of him. He was either a jerboa, a weasel or a wolf, people called him different names (Nack, Snipe, and Fang, for a few), he had a strange accent no-one could pinpoint where from, _ and _ his personality varied based on whomever he interacted with.

Nack, as Ray called him, stepped beside the squirrel’s desk with a worksheet in his hand. Nack threw it in front of the squirrel with a smile that carried an unknown emotion. Ray took it as friendliness.

The violet mobian whispered, “I dunno how to do number three.”

Without hesitation, Ray slid his own incomplete worksheet aside and grabbed the weasel-wolf-jerboa-hybrid’s paper. He did so with only a hint of fear, but with a platter of optimism; he had hoped that, maybe, being kind to this member of the Bully Squad (who he had barely interacted with in the first place) would turn Nack away from the others. So, the flying squirrel studied the worksheet, scrutinizing what the mobian did before.

He noticed that… he did numbers one and two perfectly, while number three was no different, as it merely swapped some numbers around. He… didn't need his help, right? In fact, wasn't he even answering the teacher's questions earlier…?

That was when he realized that Nack was uncomfortably close to his right ear, exhaling warm breaths down it and ripping his earlier smile right off his face.

“We’re gonna kill you _ and _ your boyfriend. _ Guarantee it_.”

Nack slowly pulled away from the other mobian, who was silent and motionless. As the purple mobian sauntered away snickering to himself, he could only imagine the agonizing fear that permeated Ray’s body.

Soon after the incident, the bell rang, and Ray could not have been faster at gathering his belongings and charging out of the classroom. He pushed away students leaving from other classrooms by accident, as his eyes were glued on the floor and covered in tears.

He refused to look up, utterly ashamed. His footsteps raced his heartbeat, and they craved victory. He ran far too quickly, nearly pushing the blue hedgehog he bumped into down the stairs.

“Woah, woah, woah!” Sonic grabbed this friend by the arms, and they slowly motioned to a landing below. Ray was breathing heavy and his muzzle was a deep red. People glanced as they climbed up and down the stairs.

Despite the audience’s watch, Sonic tried to comfort him, “R-Ray, talk to me. What happened?”

A few tears fell from the squirrel’s eyes as he mumbled, “S-S-S-Sonic… th-th-they… I… they’re, uh, th— g-gon… g-gonna—”

“They’re gonna what? Ray, you have to calm down a bit and _ then _ speak. I can’t understand you.”

Ray’s eyes darted from the floor and into Sonic’s concerned ones. His compassionate worry induced the squirrel to take deep breaths and wipe off his tears.

He mumbled slowly, “Th-They’re g-going t-to hurt you b-because of… because of me.”

Sonic loosened his grip and sighed. He motioned the squirrel to continue down the stairs soon after letting go. “Not ‘cause of you, Ray. You never asked them to threaten your life.”

Ray’s eyes wandered off Sonic’s face, and he whispered, “Well, m-my f*****ry did…”

“I… don’t think that can really speak,” Sonic said with slight disheartened look on his face. “No, Ray, who upset you just now? Or, are you just thinking about the text…?”

“I-It was Nack, o-or Fang, Weasel, or wh-whatever the f-fuck you call him.”

The well-mannered squirrel’s cursing slightly added to Sonic’s surprise, but the name was the main contributor. _ Fang? _ He was the most “mild” of the entire group; he disliked the others for assaulting people before they threatened or attacked the group first. He only stayed in the group for “protection”.

Ray harshly wiped his tears as they approached their Spagonish classroom. “I-I don’t know if he s-sent the t-text from earlier, b-but he threatened, ‘w-we are gonna kill you.' But not just m-me. They ca-called y-you my boyfriend…”

He watched Sonic’s reaction after the comment. The hedgehog seemed to be in thought, but nothing more. No surprise, no blush, no embarrassment, no disgust. Maybe a hint of irritation, but that was it. Disappointed, Ray stopped staring. Why is he thinking like that now anyway…?

Sonic sighed, “‘Course they did.” Ray bit his lip.

The two slowly walked into class soon before the fourth period bell sounded. That day, the student next to Sonic was present, so Ray sent himself to the back of the class with the lemur from yesterday.

The teacher gave the class a brief and lifeless lesson on past and present perfect tenses. The concept was easy enough, even with Ray’s thoughts focused on more dire matters, and it was obvious the teacher wanted to have an effortless, passive day.

So, she gave the class an assignment that involved speaking to someone else in Spagonish. She instructed the students to speak to the student sitting next to them as she typed away on her laptop, not caring whether or not they actually did their assignment.

In fact, some of them began to do everything _ but _ the work: finish homework for another class, chat to each other in English, or even play handheld gaming consoles beneath their desks, which was what the two boys in front of Ray and the lemur chose to do.

The squirrel turned to the lemur and the lemur turned to the squirrel. She had very radiant violet eyes and a friendly smile. He had blue eyes hidden behind thick glass.

“This is one dumb partner assignment,” she whispered.

“I agree,” Ray said, happy the feeling was mutual.

She took her chair and put it next to Ray's desk. They were tossed some worksheets from the pair in front of them, yet both mobians put it to the side.

“_Me llamo Tangle_,” she introduced herself jokingly. Ray smiled.

“_Yo s-soy… fr-fracasado_,” Ray whispered. It'd be interesting if she knew what that mean—

“_Fraca_… Wait, loser? Did you just—” Tangle suddenly chuckled. “Self-deprecation joke. Nice.”

Oh...! Well... Ray found the response sort of awkward, so he giggled it off. “Y-Yeah, uh…”

“Okay, let’s get this pink elephant outta here. Are you friends with Sonic now?” Tangle asked the other much louder. The misuse of the idiom slightly bugged the squirrel.

“Um… I mean—”

She gasped and whispered. “Is it something _ more_?”

“_N-No_…!” Ray blushed, internally cursing himself for doing so. “I-I… don’t even know why you would say that.”

She placed a finger on her gray muzzle, as if in thought. While she squinted her eyes, she continued, but quieter, “Ahhh, I get it now…”

Ray raised a brow. The room turned slightly chattier, giving her the perfect moment to point a finger at him and deduce,

“You _ want _ it to be something more.”

Ray stared at her, but put on an irritated look. He turned to his desk in silence.

Tangle’s eyes widened. “Uh… sorry?”

Ray looked out the window to his left. Tangle stayed silent for a few seconds, giving Ray a moment to watch some freshmen run around the football field. She tapped his shoulder.

“What?” he hushed without eye contact.

“I, uh, really _ am _ sorry if I hurt your feelings,” Tangle whispered. “Sometimes I get really excited, and I guess we don’t know each other _ like that_.”

Ray sighed. “It’s fine… I’m just…” He paused, debating if he should trust Tangle or not. He sighed. “Nothing. Please j-ju-just… don't say th-that again…"

Tangle was silent for a moment, but broke it with a hopefully-reassuring murmur, "I… I'm sorry. I just want you to know that I accept you—" Her speaking turned into a rushed whisper. "I-In case, you, uh, _ are _ what I think you are, of course."

Ray heartedly sighed. He turned to Sonic with a frown, and then back to Tangle in contemplation. He did it again, then brought his gaze down at his desk.

Should—?

_ No, you're out of your mind. _

But she just—

_ Lied. She lied. _

Did she though…?

_Don't you do it, Ray..._

Ray's eyes moved from below and back into Tangle's. Her slight smile and solemn look…

She's genuine. Has to be.

With eyes closed, a mumble finally escaped the clutches of his rational thought: "I… I'm j-just hopeful in something th-that'll never happen…"

Tangle was taken aback. Ray was actually willing to trust her with information like _that_; it was the same information that could, if she _ really _ wanted to, get him reported to authorities. However, Tangle understood the sudden trust, since she _ was _ probably one of the few mobians to speak to him with any hint of kindness, so she wasn’t too surprised. She was just happy he considered her a friend… or, at least, someone he could speak to.

She placed her hand on his shoulder. “You don’t know that…”

“He’s normal,” Ray whispered, brushing her hand off. “I’m s-six-thousand per-percent sure he likes... y'know."

Tangle lowered her head, frowning. “Well, he _ can _ like _ both_…”

“I s-se-severely doubt it.”

“Oh, come on, Ray,” she probed. “Have you ever even asked?”

“Y-Yeah, sure, a-and, what? L-Lose one of my _ only two _ friends 'c-c-cause I had the _ gall _ to c-conf—" Ray caught his tongue. As quiet as they were in the cacophony surrounding them, _someone_ could be listening, waiting for them to slip-up. He cleared his throat. "... a-ask?”

Tangle briefly looked at Sonic, who was on his phone with earbuds in his ears. She turned back to Ray.

“No, Ray,” Tangle loudly whispered. She brought her volume down. “Don’t go that far, yet. Ask what _ he likes._”

“I-I told you,” Ray eyed every female in the room, trying to make it obvious to the lemur. His voice varied in quiet volumes. “He likes... them and them only. Someone like him wouldn’t b-be like me, let alone _ like _someone as... lame as me. That group of b-bullies th-threatened me and he’s j-just making sure a-a st-student isn't k-killed.”

“And so he… follows you around… before and after every class…?”

“Y-Yes, Tangle, as a _ friend_,” Ray grew increasingly more irritated, but his eyes drifted. “May we pl-_please _leave this at that?”

Tangle stared on, but only for a short moment, before shrugging and pulling out a golden-yellow notebook.

The minutes before the bell flew by faster than any thought that didn’t involve the hedgehog in question.

**·X×X×X×X·**

Sonic and Ray reached two floors above for their next class. The hedgehog stopped beside his new friend, who was opening his rusting locker that was, conveniently, right across their classroom.

“Hey, I’m gonna go to class since, well,” Sonic pointed at the classroom behind him with his thumb. “It’s right there.”

“Okay,” his friend said quietly. After his third try, Ray finally opened his locker and Sonic was long gone.

With a textbook in hand, he was about to close his locker's door, but his ears began to eavesdrop on a conversation not too far from his left.

“... hear how she yelled and stomped outta _ that _ room?” one hedgehog girl gossiped, pointing a finger at the room behind Ray.

A different mobian female giggled, then whispered, “I know right… she’s _ so _ dumb if she don’t know.”

“I _ heard _ from a friend's friend he slept with, like, _ half _ the girls in this school.”

“Veri was mad about him not being loyal but she’s the one with a boyfriend…” the third student trailed off into a much quieter whisper, one that Ray could no longer hear.

Not only that, Ray’s ear slowly began to block out anything that was outside of his commanding thoughts.

_ Of course, Ray_. _ You even said it yourself._

The squirrel shut his eyes tightly, as to bar any tear from escaping. He took three deep breaths and finally shut his locker with an unnecessarily loud ‘bang’. Afterall, the noises around him were mute.

_ That ‘hope,' that ‘chance’? Come on, you fucking moron. _

He opened his eyes and locked them to the floor, failing to notice the quick, bothered glances from other students. Ray swallowed hard.

_ Is he really like that? No way… Not _ _ him__… right? _

He shook his head, trying to get any recollection of the girls’ conversation out of it. It doesn't sound like him... It's just false rumors, right?

_But what if...?_

He entered class immediately after the fifth period bell, mind scrambled and hand clenching his side. Class proceeded on, and the two barely spoke to each other before they had to leave for lunch.


	5. plan

**THURSDAY**

Alone, again. Ray chewed on a turkey sandwich he had to pay for, since he completely forgot to fix himself lunch that morning. It had barely any turkey and three slices of swiss cheese. While it may be the “cheapest” item on the menu (as if a $10 sandwich-and-salad-combo is actually cheap), _ this _ is still supposed to be “high quality food”?

The only time Ray laid his sights on his blue friend was when the hedgehog walked to his usual table. He looked annoyed, as if he was ready to sit down and blow up on the others.

And it seemed like he did; Ray used his 20/20 hearing instead of his 20/50 eyes, and he noticed the bullies were louder and angrier than ever before. He was even able to hear Sonic at times, who was usually the "quietest" one besides Nack. He could only imagine what they were arguing about.

As Ray foraged through his salad for olives to put aside, he felt someone approach his table. He raised his head with wide eyes.

Surprisingly but unsurprisingly, it was Tangle.

“Yo!” she threw him a sideways peace sign. “May I sit here?”

“... S-Sure?”

“Cool,” she beamed. The lemur dropped the snacks she held in her left arm on the table. She had a small box of apple juice, three small bags of barbecue potato chips, a chocolate bar, and a thin bag of pistachios. She plopped onto the chair across from Ray.

He eyed her… _food_. “Uhm… is… that your lunch?”

“Yeah,” she said, opening a bag of chips from the bottom. “Want some?”

“N-No thanks…” he waved a hand with eyes on her pistachios.

He stared at her as she chomped on her chips, waiting for her to address the obvious. She did not, and so he tried to give her a hint.

“Uhhhh… so your… seat—”

She gasped, and realized, “_Ohhhhhh_, you wanna know why I’m sitting here.”

“Y-Yeah…”

“Why, you want the table all for yourself?” Tangle sassed.

“_N-No_—!”

“Nah, nah, I’m just playin’,” she giggled. “Well, I got into a stupid fight with my friends and had to sit somewhere else. I didn’t see you on the stairs, so, hey, surprise surprise, you’re at your _ own _table.”

“W-Well, I mean, th-there’s sunlight beaming on this table a-and this table only, s-so…”

Tangle turned to her left and was greeted with a bright beam of light that half poured all over the table and half right into her irises. She turned back.

“_Ohhhh_… Well, still.”

Ray’s eyes quickly, and accidentally, looked at Bean, who started to shout at Sonic with intense irritation. Once he spotted the polar bear locking eyes with him, Ray immediately shot his gaze down onto his green tray.

Tangle noticed his actions and turned to the table herself. She saw the polar bear whisper to Nack as he gave her short looks.

“Huh… they’re talkin’ ‘bout us,” she reported as she turned back to Ray.

“Don’t turn around…” he whispered through gritted teeth.

“Pfft,” she laughed. “I can do whatever I want; they don’t intimidate me. They tried to mess with me once, but I fought back. Punched Beak-Face _ right _in the eye with my tail.”

Almost remarkably, she then formed a fist with the end of her tail and threw a quick jab. Ray's mouth was agape. _ How the hell—!? _

“How did… H-How did you… Y-You have _ that _ much co-control o-over your tail?”

“Yeah? You don’t?” she asked, chomping through her last bag of chips. “I’m pretty sure all lemurs do, to different extents—" She paused. "Well, maybe… mine's to a different, _ different _ extent.”

“All mine can do is m-move a bit, I think,” he supposed. “In fact, I-I-I don’t think I really _ tried _ t-to do anything crazy w-with it. S-Sometimes it wags and m-m-makes so. much. noise.”

“Yeah, I know,” she commented before drinking her juicebox, saying nothing else.

Silence. Ray expected her to elaborate, but she did not. He blinked. “U-Uhm, what?”

She slurped her drink with the slowness of a turtle. “I know that. 'Bout your tail.”

Ray’s eyes darted to the side. “Yeah, uh, _ h-how_?”

“_Weeeelll_…" she blew the empty carton up with air. "It was wagging yesterday… when you were speaking to Sonic… in bio.”

“No… i-it wasn’t…” Ray said, his words laced with disbelief.

“It _ so _ was,” she giggled.

Ray blinked twice. An image of Sonic and his heartwarming smile popped into his head and, only then, could he feel his tail fidget. He loudly groaned with his hands covering his face, thinking, ‘_How_. _ EMBARRASSING_.’

Tangle, instead, smiled. “Awww, I thought it was cute. Don’t worry, nobody else saw it. I’m the only one in the back with you losers now,” she giggled. After a moment, Tangle peeked at her watch as soon as the bell rang to dismiss them. Ray uncovered his face.

“It’s already time to bounce!? I didn’t finish my chocolate… or my nuts…” The lemur dropped her chocolate into her backpack as she threw the pistachios onto Ray’s tray. He stared at it, then back at her.

Reading his face, she asked, “You like nuts, right?”

Ray coughed. “A-Are you… basing that o-on my species?”

“Nah, it's more on how your tail wags when you talk to Sonic,” Tangle snorted.

“Wha…?” It took a few seconds for the squirrel to understand her joke, but as soon as he did, he shouted, “HEY!!”

The lemur exploded in laughter, wiping her eyes as she exited the table. After she left, Ray grabbed the pistachios anyway, drawn by their usual delicious taste.

Sonic and most of the Bully Squad had already disappeared by the time he disposed of the contents on his tray, an arduous task that involved slithering through groups of mobians with an oversized tail and a slight fear of getting dirty.

Later, Sonic and Ray barely spoke during the other half of fifth period, as Ray did not want to bother an already-irritated person and since he was still slightly annoyed by the earlier gossip about whatever was happening between him and Verity. Since it's probably just untrue yapping, he still looked forward to sixth and seventh period, in which Ray had a double-period lab assignment that he could partner with his friend in, only for the hedgehog to be called down to the office before the start of sixth period… for whatever reason.

Ray’s heart nearly smashed through his ribs as he stayed for his next period without Sonic by his side. Did something happen? Is his friend okay? Is he in trouble? Did someone from the Squad attack him? _ Will he be back? _

All of the questions dancing in his head stopped him from completing his lab with proper care and suitable attention. 

**X×X×X×X**

It was 2:10 PM. Students delightedly put on their coats or jackets and left the building with friends by their sides. Ray’s only friend at the moment was Dread, who hung over his shoulder, stared down with fervor, and panted down his neck. With it, he slowly descended the stairs and towards the doors that lead students into the cold, winter air.

Ray’s breaths turned short when he got to the front doors. Slowly creaking it open, annoying the students behind him, his eyes watered and his hands shook. _ Is this it_—_? _

Thankfully, in a matter of milliseconds after going beyond the outside set of entrances, Ray felt two short bursts of vibration in his pants pocket; he received a text from Sonic.

“Meet @ the gate,'' it read.

And, just in time, he spotted the hooded hedgehog, who leaned on the brick archway that greeted anyone entering and leaving the campus. With him was another student—some yellow-furred, purple-haired girl, giggling and babbling—who quickly departed before Ray reached them. She probably didn't leave from his approach, she probably did. Other questions were more important to him than knowing who that even was anyway.

After running down a long, tiled pathway, Ray immediately asked Sonic, “Wh-Where were you during bio?”

Sonic paused his short-lived music and lowered his coat’s hood. He sighed, “Uh… apparently there was this issue involving the bullies and I was roped into it. Had to speak to the vice principal and student advisor or whatever.”

Ray gasped. “A-Are you in trouble…?”

The hedgehog’s lids lowered, as well as his brows. “Yeah… it’s, uh, real bad… I…”

He swallowed hard.

“I might be expelled…”

Silence. The squirrel covered his gaping mouth, and his insides were turned into ice. He stared a little longer, only for his emotions to take a turn after seeing Sonic’s helpless grin.

“They… Well, they told me I was _ too cool for school. _ I’m gettin’ expelled for distracting everybody with my coolness.”

Ray quickly dropped his hands and groaned. His eyes narrowed and he playfully responded, “Oh, r-really? Add some-something else t-to the list. ‘_Almost scared R-Ray to fuckin’ death._’”

Sonic laughed, probably more because his tomfoolery triggered a response, but Ray still appreciated it. A _ lot_.

“Alright, alright. I had to,” Sonic shrugged. “Let’s go. Lead the way.”

Ray nodded and headed off to their right, towards his unimpressive street and home. After walking for five seconds (that felt like fifty), he spoke again.

“S-So, what, th-the-the whole questioning thing t-took _ that _ long to do?”

Sonic hummed. “Well, I was forced to wait in the office for ages before they bombarded me with _ question after question_. They needed everyone there and they did 1-on-1s.”

“B-But it’s pretty dumb that it took t-t-two periods…”

“Oh, but, I helped Mrs. Vanilla with her recycling project seventh period, too, since after school stuff is cancelled.”

“_Ohh…_” Ray spoke. “That makes se-sense. Though, wh-what… happened exactly? With the… bullies?”

“Well…” Sonic crossed his arms. “Remember Sticks?"

Ray pressed his lips together. Of course he does, he thought. She was also an outsider like him, a social outcast, a "nerd." In fact, she was the Squad's fodder before he came around...

The squirrel coughed. "Uh, w-well, yeah… Wh-What happened t-to her?"

Sonic had a dull smile. "Well, she came forward with what they've done to her…" Then, it finally loured. "But Bean did something… not great to her recently…"

Ray abruptly turned to his friend with appalled eyes. Sonic held up his hands, knowing _ exactly _ what his friend was thinking.

"Oh, _ w-woah_, not like… _ that_. Nothing that didn't involve just insults and fists… as if that's much better, anyway."

While he was able to let out a sigh, Ray's eyes stayed wide and he grabbed his own arm. Still… what on Mobius compelled Bean to go after her again? What, he couldn't get his fill with just him? He still had to toss her around and berate her, having Ray as a side dish? The squirrel sighed again, letting his frustrations out instead. They didn't comply.

Ray said nothing else, and so Sonic continued, in silence, to walk and admire the scenery. It wasn't anything special—with some decent-sized homes and privately-owned stores scattered about—but he had rarely traveled through that side of the city. He would jog around Star Light City every now and then, but mostly in the west side of town, where his home and some of his friends lived. On the other hand, Ray studied a sidewalk he has seen dozens of times since he has lived in his small red shack. The squirrel took out his pistachios from earlier and started snacking, partly in nervousness.

They were quite silent for a while, despite Ray's timorous chewing, before Sonic spoke again.

“Uh… how close are we?”

Ray hastily flicked his head towards Sonic. He coughed. “W-We’re not that f-far… My street’s, like, on that road o-over there,” he pointed at a three-way intersection about twenty feet away from them. “We just turn once a-and walk some m-more…”

That was when a question popped into Ray’s head. The squirrel proceeded to look at both of the hedgehog’s hands, eye his backpack, and even try to study his quills.

Sonic snickered. “Whatcha looking for?” he asked with a lowered brow.

Ray dithered about his following question, but eventually asked, “What… What is your plan even?”

After an unexpected hesitation from his friend, Ray watched him place a hand on the side of his own head. Sonic inhaled through gritted teeth. “I… well…”

“_Y-Yeah_?”

“Yeah, well, here’s the thing,” Sonic smiled nervously. “I don’t usually think of plans—”

“_Sonic_…” Ray uttered, stopping dead in his tracks.

His friend turned to him, trying to reassure, “Ray, trust me, you’re gonna leave without a scratch, _ if _ they even show up.”

“Wh-What if they h-have weapons—?”

“They _ could_—”

Ray stomped his foot. “_Sonic!_”

“Ray, dude,” Sonic put a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “I… I have… ‘trained’ to deal with people with weapons. I can fight. We’ll be fine.”

“Wh-What if it’s you ag-against all of them? A-A-And they all have knives? Or… O-Or guns…”

“Guns, man? It’d be like winning the lottery thrice to find somebody with a gun,” Sonic humored, while he motioned the concerned mobian to continue walking. “I don’t even think we’re gonna be attacked, Ray. They’re usually just all talk. And 'sides, with that whole situation back in school—”

“You honestly think that’d stop them!?” Ray queried. He bit his lip.

“We’ll. be. fine,” Sonic reassured him. “Bean is the head honcho and—” the hedgehog coughed, “— he's in huge trouble… I'm pretty sure. He might even be expelled… I think.”

Ray’s tooth let go of his lip and he looked down. “Yeah, right… A-Aren’t his parents rich as hell? H-He can get away w-with anything.”

“That's why I said _ I think_,” Sonic pointed out.

His friend shook his head. His breathing got heavier. "S-S-Sonic… w-we… we can't… My Chaos, we can't… We're gonna g-get k-kil-ki—"

That's when Sonic grabbed his shoulders, faces suddenly an inch apart. Finally, a stillness. Ray stared into Sonic's irises, Sonic stared into Ray's. A moment of soundlessness as their breathing slowly became synchronized.

"Bro. Calm. down," Sonic whispered, stressing each word. "I can handle guys like them. You _ gotta _ trust me, okay?"

He carefully let go and saw a slight nod from his shorter friend. Ray felt a warmth in his cheeks incoming. Right _ now_…?

"Unless you wanna turn back now, but…" the hedgehog smiled at a time like this. "That'd be _ pretty _ anticlimactic, huh?"

Ray disapproved of his jest, and it was all over his expression. He sighed loftily, but nodded harder and continued walking, to Sonic's ease.

A few minutes later, they reached the turn mentioned earlier. The main road was suspiciously quiet—which was unheard of on the street during the afternoon—and it did not help the mood as they cautiously paced down the other road and down the left sidewalk.

It has been a while since Ray’s eyes were off the ground for so long; he looked inside parked cars, glanced through the houses’ windows, and caught a glimpse of two people arguing on their porch, but could not spot a group of mobians waiting and aching for murder.

As they trudged on, Ray’s trembling worsened and his heartbeat grew faster. Sonic’s eyes darted more frequently as they continued on.

Far too quickly for Ray’s taste, the two reached a street sign reading “Almond Road”—the same road that contained his home.

The squirrel jumped when he heard Sonic’s voice. “You’ll be fine, Ray. We'll be fine. We’re almost there, right?”

The timid mobian unclenched his arms once he calmed down. “Y-Yeah… M-My house is a red one to the l-left. I-It’s right in the mid-middle.”

His friend nodded and they turned a slight left and continued to caution down the sidewalk.

House after house after house after house. The road was long and flat, giving the two a clear view of every home on both sides of the street. Some of their lawns were uncut and camouflaged with weeds, and there was not one house without devastated and off-color siding. Ray was embarrassed by the fact that Sonic knew he lived in such an unseemly road, but that was the least of his worries.

In fact, and unfortunately for the two boys, the road was without the security cameras that appeared everywhere in Star Light City and with only two barely-functioning abnormality sensors covering the opposite corners of the street. They were mostly unprotected, at least from the government. What was Sonic thinking...?

As Ray trudged on, every sound dimmed and his focus turned silent. He closed his eyes (only for a moment) and tried to calm his breathing. Yet, multiple terrifying thoughts flashed through his head: Sonic hurt on the ground, men towering over them, and pain, so much pain, and then the bruises, and blood, and the cold. The cold, hard floor on which he would’ve been left to rot. His heartbeat rang in his ears.

He panicked. The two of them were close to his home…

And _ they _ could be anywhere.

Behind a home… behind a parked car… behind an unlocked door… 

Behind them.

Ray’s eyes shot open and he turned 180°, but spotted nothing of worth.

As he was doing so, he felt Sonic’s arm across his.

“Stop.”

Ray’s pupils decreased in size. He slowly rotated his head back and, directly across his home, by an entirely deliberate design, he watched a group of four masked mobians exit a dark car.

And each man had glistening metal bats.

Ray’s breathing turned into wheezing, a sound comparable to the squeak of the attackers’ closing car doors. Ray’s body shook under the arm of someone who, instead, seemed to have loosened his stance from three seconds ago. Ray could even spot a smile forming from his lips.

That was when he turned and whispered through a giggle,

“Ray, I think you should record this. Imagine the _views_ on YouTube.”

…

. . . 

_ W h a t ? _

Ray was at a _ loss _ for words.

As the group of four armed men leisured their way towards the two defenseless teenagers, Sonic was smiling—no, _ cheesing _—for an audience. He turned away from their impending threats just to tell Ray a silly joke without a hint of fear on his body.

He watched as the hedgehog turned back to the group, who were then speaking distance. Sonic dropped his backpack and, in one fell swoop, ripped off his coat and school blazer, throwing both onto the sidewalk. He made a few steps towards the others before stopping when they were only a foot away from him.

One of the men, who was an approximately six-feet-tall, ninety-percent-muscle beaver, glanced at his friends and then commanded Sonic, “Get out the way. We’re here for the squirrel.”

Sonic joked, “To have a scholarly discussion, invite to a tea party—?”

“If you don’t fuck off in two seconds, you oughta be collateral damage,” an otter, who was more flabby than his partner, interrupted the hedgehog.

By then, the men surrounded the two from four different angles, close enough so that Sonic and Ray’s escape was nearly impossible. The hedgehog backed away closer to his friend.

“If you must—” he turned to Ray, then, “—before you kill us, I wanna know if the cash is really worth offing an innocent sixteen-year-old kid,” Sonic asked with a sudden bit of ire.

The flabbier man and a blue fox laughed. The muscular mobian answered him frankly.

“Oh hell _ yeah _ it is.”

And with four metal bats high in the air, Ray watched his short life flash before his eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EDIT: Fixed a glaring problem... ^^;
> 
> Give me any criticism if you want!! I can take it, haha.


	6. bats

**THURSDAY**

_ And with four metal bats high in the air, Ray watched his short life flash before his eyes. _

With eyes shut as he braced for impact, he was confused as to why it was gloved hands that pushed him onto the floor and not the clean hit of a metal bat.

Thus, Ray fell through the only opening between the attackers that he could fit between and slammed against a soft patch of grass (but also his heavy backpack of books) in front of his own home. With eyes still shut, he heard a loud “thunk” against someone’s body not too soon after he fell, and the sound forced the squirrel’s eyes open to look for his friend Sonic.

And to Ray’s utter amazement, Sonic was across from him, on the street, posing in front of a downed, unmasked fox, with not a bruise, scratch or sweat. He smiled wide, as if he has sapped every ounce of confidence from the four other mobians and turned it into overflowing smugness.

Sonic picked the attacker's bat up and leaned on it. “Youch… A strong kick to the jaw. That’d _ gotta _ hurt.”

The three other mobians’ heads turned towards the hedgehog. Ray blinked.

W-Wait… so…

Sonic used the _ recoil _ of pushing him _ out of danger _ to _ do a flip _ onto his hands and _ kick the guy in the jaw__!? _

Sonic flipped the bat into the air and caught it. “So, who’s next?”

In unbridled fury, the muscular man and his otter friend immediately ran towards him. The otter swung first, and just as quickly, Sonic held both ends of his bat and blocked it with a loud ‘ting’. He continued blocking their attacks while the fourth aggressor, who was a freakishly tall and muscular bear, turned towards Ray. The squirrel backed away, whimpering, as the towering mobian paced towards him.

“Those dumbasses… _ You’re _ the one we’re here for,” he gripped his bat.

The bear lifted his weapon in the air, the metal glinting under the falling sun and slightly blinding the squirrel. However, before it could get any lower, one of the other bats seemingly appeared out of nowhere and bonked against the back of the bear’s head, and he just as quickly tumbled to the ground. The bear almost landed on Ray, but the squirrel narrowingly avoided him by rolling to his right.

Ray launched himself towards the two metal weapons on the ground and searched for his friend again. He looked to his slight right to find Sonic and the other two attackers dueling it out, two on one. Yet, despite their advantage, the squirrel watched in awe as Sonic ducked and flipped and sidestepped without the protection of a bat. Not a single swing connected, and the hedgehog donned an oh-so condescending grin.

“Are you okay, Ray!?” he dropped his grin and yelled out, making sure he aimed the projectile correctly. He glanced to his right to see his friend frantically nod. With his focus on Ray and off the attackers, the otter was able to strike Sonic’s left tricep, and _ hard_. Ray cried out as Sonic groaned through clenched teeth, falling to his uninjured side. Ray contemplated running in with his bats, but stopped himself once Sonic promptly rolled backwards and kicked the beaver’s hand hard enough to force the metal bat out of it. Then, with a backflip propelled by the hand of his unbruised arm, Sonic was back on his feet.

He followed that with a jump high enough to kick the assailant’s face, turning once in the air. The brown mobian fell backwards, and by the time he was laying on the floor, Sonic’s feet touched the ground and his head ducked under the otter’s enraged swinging.

Ray noticed something in his peripheral vision to his left. The blue fox from earlier was steadily rising, dazed from the earlier kick to the jaw. He wiped blood from his mouth and scanned the scene in front of him. He and Ray traded looks, with the fox more attuned to his two weapons than anything else. They both swallowed hard.

The fox turned to the car they exited. “‘Ey! W-We’re done here!”

The otter glanced at the fox, and with eyes focused on something else, Sonic gave him a taste of his own medicine and sweep kicked him, tripping and forcing the otter to fall forward on his protected face.

Sonic quickly got back on his feet and rolled his shirt sleeves up, despite the pain. He planted his feet on the otter’s back, smiled at the fox and said, “Hey, Loser, need help with your luggage?”

The attacker grumbled. He stepped back as Sonic stepped forward.

“‘Kay, whatever, suit yourself,” the hedgehog shrugged with a smile, but pointed at himself with anger in his eyes. “But, do me a favor and tell whoever paid you: If they ever threaten Ray again, I _ will _ find out who they are and it _ won’t _go well.”

By the time he was finished speaking, whoever was driving the car had already turned around, waiting for the apparent leader’s okay.

And then, to Sonic and Ray’s _ utter _ astoundment, no one left the vehicle to carry the dazed attackers inside; instead, their bodies and the bats glowed red, rose from their spots (or, in Ray's case, was ripped out of his hands), and were transported through opened car doors. The fox hurried into the passenger seat, and like that, the car rushed onto the main road and disappeared from the boys’ view.

Ray blinked. Sonic blinked. They exchanged surprised glances, and then blinked again.

“W-Was that… t-t-telekinesis?” Ray managed to say.

“S-Sure was…” Sonic replied, subconsciously holding onto his arm. “I wonder why they didn’t use _ that _ guy instead.”

“I… don’t— Wh-Who knows…” Ray mumbled. He noticed Sonic’s gesture and gasped. “O-Oh my Chaos!”

The squirrel ran towards the hedgehog, who immediately lowered his arm in response.

“A-A-Are you o-okay…?” Ray grabbed the forearm of Sonic’s injury. With his sleeves rolled up, Ray was able to notice how red and swollen his tricep was. He only scanned for a second before Sonic snatched his arm away.

“Yeah, I’m fine man,” Sonic tried to suppress his wincing behind a smile. “It’ll go away—”

“I-It’s r-r-really big, S-Sonic,” Ray’s voice quavered with worry. “We n-n-need to put, like, ice… or s-something—”

“I’ll do that at home—”

“You n-need ice im… immediately—”

“I heard ice makes it worse—”

“I-I-It’s getting bigger, S-Sonic…” Ray said in a raised voice. “I-Ice is f-for the exce-cessive swelling. P-Please, come in. _ Please_.”

That was when the hedgehog found his right hand holding his left arm, completely led by his subconscious, and sighed deeply. He turned to Ray’s house, then back to his solicitous friend, and finally agreed, “... Fine… but only ‘cause you want me to visit _ so _ badly.”

The squirrel nodded. He took Sonic’s wrist, as well as his lightweight belongings, and hurried through his front door.

**·X×X×X×X·**

The visitor rested his elbow on the wooden table. Water, little by little, dripped out of a faucet to his right. A tacky analog clock above him ticked loudly (or, at least, loudly among the stillness), while the old wooden seat under him creaked as he bounced his right leg.

One other thing disturbing the silence was the hurried shuffling to the hedgehog’s far left, in a room he could barely believe was a bathroom from its incredibly small size.

Ray finally darted out of the small space with reusable bandage wrap and some sort of cream. He threw the items on the kitchen table, where a hedgehog and an icepack were patiently waiting.

“S-Sorry about my home… It’s-Its’s not the cleanest…” the squirrel glanced at the heap of dishes in his sink. “... or the largest… o-or the prettiest.” His eyes wandered from the chipped paint on the kitchen wall to the lifting peel-and-stick tiles under them.

Sonic grinned and shrugged. “It’s whatever. Better than being at my place.”

Ray raised an eyebrow. He took Sonic’s wrist and laid out his arm. “H-How so?”

“My place is empty, cold, lifeless…” Sonic cleared his throat. “It’s so… I don’t know, _ boring _?”

“S-So you’d rather be in a place with chipping w-walls and… like, b-broken sinks?”

“I’d say it feels more like a _ home _ than anything else,” the hedgehog's eyes wandered the worn-out kitchen. “_Actually_… _ pffft_, maybe I’d be outside more, the more I think about it.”

“Hmph…” Ray breathed and looked out his window. Outside was the last place he wanted to be at the moment. The squirrel grabbed his ice pack in his right hand the bandage wrap in his left, emptying the right first and causing the hedgehog to wince, who tried to hide it with an immediate grin.

Ray wrapped the bandage was tightly as possible, and fastened it with its velcro strips. He then handed Sonic the cream. “V-V-Vitamin K cream. H-Helps bruises or something. Bought it, never used it, s-so you can have it.”

“Huh,” Sonic inspected its label. “Thanks, man.” He then juggled it in his right hand.

The squirrel watched for a moment before shooting his gaze down. He hesitated, then mumbled, “S-So… you’re going home now, r-right?”

“You want me to?” Sonic said, grinning.

“Not at all—” Ray clenched his arms. “Or, w-well, I-I-I mean, I would… uh, i-if you wan-wanted t-to go…”

Sonic snickered. He sighed, then said, “Well, I gotta go to work anyway.”

“Oh…” The other cleared his throat, possibly saddened. “Wh-Where do you work?”

“A pizza place downtown called Pepper’s,” Sonic pointed behind him with his free thumb. “So I gotta get steppin’.”

He hopped off his chair and stretched, until he hurt his arm. He tried not to wince, but failed.

Ray twiddled his pointer fingers. “B-But… you didn't… work yesterday…”

“Sure didn’t, ‘cause Wednesday’s my day off,” he revealed. “See ya later! We can play Smash after 8.”

Ray watched as his friend grabbed his belongings and headed towards the front door. Before he opened it, however, the hedgehog turned around.

“... How do you get to Central Road from here?”

“O-Oh, uh…” Ray tapped his chin. “T-Take a left, walk all the way down, a-and take a… 'nother left… yeah, then, well, there’s this fence th-that’s broken to the l-left of a fish market waaayyyy down. L-Like, about a three minute walk. You g-go through, and you’ll en-en-end up in this b-backyard—”

“Wait, by fish market, you mean Marine’s Marine Mammals?”

Ray giggled at the dumb title he recognized, after seeing it as many times as he did. “... Y-Yeah…”

“Oh, cool,” Sonic smiled. “I live around there. Thanks.”

He gave his friend a wink and hurried out of the door, but closing it gently.

Ray blinked. He rubbed his arm as he scanned the room. Relative silence took over again, save for the dripping faucet to his left and the clock above him ticking away precious seconds.

_ He… lives around there? _ But… the only residences there are the mansions from earlier, right?

The squirrel breathed in and breathed out.

_ You know next to _ _ nothing _ _ about your new friend, huh? _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EDIT: Follow-up to last chapter's edits.


	7. swallow

**FRIDAY**

Gentle, silvery flakes flowed down and danced with the wind. A faraway moon and overhead street lights illuminated the field of snow between the shivering squirrel and his closeby destination, a place of refuge with warmth and textbooks.

He strolled down, staring at his phone screen and hiding a smile behind his old, worn-out scarf.

**·■[ ]■[ ]■[ ]■·**

[ It’s snowing! ^-^ ]_

[ Again. lol ]_

6:58 AM

_[ lol yeah. tho not the biggest fan of winter ]

7:00 AM

[ WOT. ]_

Winter’s the BEST!! Chance of no school, hot ] l

cocoa, blankies, Winter Solstice gifts… ] I

=u= ]_

7:01 AM

_[ arent you supposed to hate winter? lol ]

7:02 AM

[ No… I'm not a feral squirrel. ]_

[ I get a little cold, that's it… T__T ]_

7:02 AM

_[ lol ]

_[ well spring>summer>fall>winter ]

_[ love seein nature bloom ]

_[ i also like to ~not~ die from hypothermia lol ]

7:03 AM

Winter > Autumn > Summer > Spring. I get ] l

[ hay fever. T__T ]_

7:04 AM

[ Then hot cocoa is your friend. =u= ]_

7:05 AM

_[ and benadryl is YOUR friend lmao ]

7:05 AM

**·X×X×X×X·**

Ray laughed through his nose. With eyes still glued to his phone screen, he didn’t notice the white backpack he eventually crashed into.

“Aye!” the warm-purple mobian yelled as she turned around. “Watch where ya goin’!”

In front of Ray was an angered bird (plus one to the long list of birds that hate him) with opaque yellow sunglasses. She wore pants instead of the dress code skirt girls had to wear, and a red tie, which was _ also _ out of dress code.

“U-Uh… s-s-sorry—”

“Aye, wait a sec…” big blue eyes turned friendlier as she remembers something. “You’re… Sunshine? Rayshine or somethin’?”

"He's named _ Sunshine _? What a crappy name," her large gray friend blurted.

"'Storm' ain't that much better, you big dope," she angrily replied. Seems like a recurrence.

“Well, uh, n-no…” Ray said after he cleared his throat. “It’s Ray. Ray the Squirr— Uhm… or, well…" his speech turned into a whisper, then, "... F-Flying Squirrel…”

“No fuckin’ way! Flying squirrel!?” she beamed. “I’m a swallow—Wave the Swallow, by the way—and even I can’t fly. Don’t need to.”

“I uh, can’t fly—or, w-well, glide—anymore, really,” Ray mumbles. “B-But… why d-don’t you—?”

“‘Cause all you need in this world is intelligence, kid,” she shrugged. “And you’re steppin’ on my stage, so back off, alright?”

“Huh?”

“The engineerin’ teach’ is likin’ you more and more since you hopped into this school,” Wave revealed. “Just stay away from the top and you won’t have any trouble.”

Another green bird appeared from across the street and she greeted them. With a side eye dished out to the squirrel, she and her large friend left with the crossing mobian.

All Ray could do was attempt to process what had happened. She’s the best student in his engineering class, and he would’ve never guessed that he was on her radar. Should he feel honored?

He shook his head and carried on through the front gate of Star Light Tech.

**·X×X×X×X·**

The day was as “mundane” as the rest, but there was something different in the air. Something so thick that one would need a saw and a decade to cut through—thicker than Mobius' crust and stronger than a block of graphene...

Tension.

Ray looked down at the table of bullies during breakfast, all (minus a certain, absent bird) who were more silent than ever, but not silent with their evident fury. Ray couldn’t decide on whether he should feel victorious or terrified, pleased or worried. Will they finally leave him alone or would things get worse from here…?

No matter the answer, Ray and Sonic stayed vigilant. And so, Sonic (with a nasty bruise covered by a mere dresscode shirt and jacket at the moment) continued to follow Ray before and after every class, sure that not a finger touched his friend.

In pre-calculus, Nack was more quiet than usual, and the squirrel was far too terrified to ever glance at his face and decipher an emotion. It was helped by the teacher’s “Are you feeling alright, Fang?”, but his silence carried on through the remainder of class. Ray could only feel the piercing stares aimed at him from behind.

Yet, again, in a weird way, their soundlessness was extraordinarily refreshing. Without a worry in his mind, Ray walked through the halls with his friend talking about current news and other things they enjoyed. Sonic _did_ watch anime, though only mainstream, shonen series, and he shared Ray's enjoyment with some of his action favorites. Though, he had only watched half of the movies in the MMU, to Ray’s dismay. The superhero-enthusiast begged him to catch up on all forty-one movies before the upcoming_ Revengers: Secret Invasion_.

It was then fourth period, Ray’s Spagonish class. He was in the back with Tangle (since he didn't mind her), watching a YouTube video with poor sound design on the smartboard ahead.

“Psst.”

The squirrel watched on.

“Pssssst.”

He blinked.

“_PsssssSSSSS_—”

“Shh! What!?” Ray hushed, finally turning his head.

“Dude, you know what’s up with that entire group?” Tangle asked in a loud whisper.

“H-Huh?”

“That table of idiots you’re scared of.”

“Oh…” Ray acted like he was paying attention when the teacher glanced at them. He continued, “I dunno…”

“Heard they were gonna do something to you,” Tangle leaned towards him. “Verity was yapping her mouth about it yesterday, when we were leaving school. Now they’re all qui—”

The teacher yelled at them to be silent. Ray looked at Tangle and she was nodding.

Ray tried to answer (much quietly), “I— O-Or, uh, well, th-they didn't, obviously…”

“Well yeah, obvs,” Tangle rolled her eyes. “I was trying to find you, so I could _ help _ you. I don’t have your number so I couldn’t.”

Ray’s eyes widened. He turned his head forward, but not to watch the board. “Y-You didn’t need to, b-but thanks…”

“No way.”

Ray lowered a brow, and whispered, “... What?”

“_No. way._”

“... Wh-What!?”

“You fought six guys all by yourself!?”

“No!” he said louder than expected.

Then, the teacher yelled, “_Ray y Tangle_, if you two continue, _ se daré detención a los dos_.”

“D-Detention—?_ L-Lo siento, Señora… _” the squirrel apologized. He frowned at Tangle, who shrugged.

Some prolonged, silent bookwork later, and the bell rang, launching each student out of their seats and out into the hallway. Not before Tangle passed Ray a note with her number, of course.

**·X×X×X×X·**

Lunch again, but this time, Ray sat with a friend, and the table he detested so much was pretty silent, save for the infrequent chatter. He had homemade food for once (which was a macaroni dinner he made himself last night) while Tangle sat behind a heap of snacks.

“How weren't you clobbered?”

“Wh-What… o-on Mobius… is that supposed to mean?”

“The convo from Spagonish,” she reminded him, aggressively opening her bag of Funyuns. From the bottom. Again.

“Oh…” he sighed, playing with his macaroni with his spork. “B-Because it w-wasn’t… them. They a-actually _ hired _ people to f-fuckin’ kill me.”

“Woah…” she said, eyes wide. “First, you curse? And second, how many?”

“... Four men. W-With metal bats,” Ray answered, still staring at his macaroni, breathing noticeably heavier.

“Wow, that’s… extremely messed up…” Tangle said with actual concern in her voice. She dropped it immediately. "Thoouugghh, my question still stands. Maybe even _ more_."

"Ugh…" Ray breathed. "I… d-don't actually kn-know how, t-to be honest…"

Tangle let out a 'hmph', unsatisfied with the answer. She continued, “Hey, at least they seemed to stop messing with you."

“You pay attention l-like that?”

“Would you ditch a snuff film right before the climax?”

“Wh… What?”

Tangle ignored him and shrugged. "I'm just happy they didn't decimate you, even though you won't tell me how…"

“Prob’ ‘cause I know a thing or two about fighting.”

The voice was from neither mobian, but instead, one who stood directly across Ray and to Tangle's right. The squirrel raised his head and dropped his spork.

“S-Sonic!” Tangle shouted. “Are you sitting here ‘cause your friends are bein’ blank slates?”

“Uh, nah, those guys aren’t my friends…” he shook his head. “I was actually gonna ask if I could sit here… permanently.”

Both lemur and squirrel gave out a gasp, looked at each other, and then back at the new arrival.

“Y-Yeah! Of c— Su-Sure!” Ray tripped over his words. The hedgehog smirked, then, he lowered next to Tangle and across from Ray.

“_You,_ sitting with the losers?” she said in jest.

He smiled and lowered a brow. “Nah, I’ve been doing that for the past two months.”

“_Gooood _ answer,” Tangle gave him an okay sign. She turned around to catch a glimpse behind her, and, needless to say, every present member except Nack were staring at them. She turned back.

“Staring?” Sonic asked while chewing on the 'everything-sandwich' he bought. Ray noted it as the most expensive sandwich he’s ever come across in his life.

“Hell yeah,” Tangle answered with a smile. She continued, “Anyway, there’s no way you, alone, fought four dudes with metal bats.”

“Oh, well, ‘twas more like two,” he described with food in his mouth. “I was able to knock out one guy with a kick to the jaw pretty much immediately, and the other with a bat to the head. The other two were _ terrible _ at usin' bats.”

“M-More you were just _ th-that _ good at dodging them…” Ray recounted. “It was supermobian… what y-you did there…”

“Watch Sonic be a karate master or something…” 

“I _ am _ a brown belt—”

“Of course you are,” Tangle, already with two bags of Funyuns consumed, started on her strawberry Pocky. “So far, you’re, like, the _ definition _of awesome.”

“Why, thank you,” Sonic playfully bowed in his seat. Ray and Tangle giggled.

However, Tangle's smile slowly dwindled, and she spoke softly, "But... But they actually tried to... seriously harm you guys?"

Both boys looked at each other, then Ray coughed and they nodded slowly. Tangle blew through her nose in exasperation and gripped her fist.

"_Ohh_, then they better be happy they're backin' off," she growled. "If anything happens like that again, _oooooh_..."

Ray bit his lip. Sonic whistled. The three silently ate for a bit, before Tangle started again.

“How 'bout we, uh, change the subject..." she said, scratching her head. She thought, gasped, then,

"You goin’ to the winter dance next Friday?” she directed at Sonic. Ray internally sighed at the mention. He'd completely forgotten…

He smiled. “Yeah—”

“Have a date?”

“Nah, I don’t…”

And right then, Ray’s heartbeat increased, and he tried not to show whatever emotion he was experiencing (a.k.a. an exceedingly-hopeful joy) on his face. He started to daydream.

Tangle proceeded to turn towards Ray and ask, “You?”

Ray’s musings were stopped and his eyes narrowed. “Y-You think s-someone here l-likes me?”

“No, nuthead,” she teased with chocolate in her mouth. “I meant if you’re going to the dance.”

“Oh. Uh…” Ray turned dispirited. “I-I don’t d-dance, and I d-don’t have a tux.”

“You don’t need to dance, and you don’t need a tux,” Tangle egged on. “C’mon, I wanna go with you as a friend! It’d be fun!”

“I-It won’t be good i-if I go,” Ray said. He started to play with his food again. “... I kn-know myself.”

“Aw, really man? It’d be real cool if you went,” Sonic added in, smiling genuinely. Ray stared. “We can all go as buds. Did you already get your 'fit, Tangle?”

“Sure did,” Tangle confirmed, smiling wide. “My dress accents my eyeballs.”

“Uh, nice… I'm actually gonna pick mine up in Station Square tomorrow,” Sonic said. He turned to Ray. “You guys wanna come with?”

Ray started to stammer, and Tangle, seeing that only he was looking at her, winked at him and “groaned.” “I can’t, I have to go, uh, visit my aunt tomorrow. She’s having a stupid… gender reveal party, or whatever… Then we’re gonna walk around… _ Emerald City _… I think it's called… like a buncha tourists.”

“How exciting,” Sonic sarcastically chimed. Ray glared at Tangle. How did he even buy into that?

“As exciting as the time I watched paint dry,” she complained. “For latex, it takes an hour and seventeen minutes. Don’t quote me.”

The mobian next to her hesitated, but continued, “Right… Well, Ray, how about you?”

“Uh…” the squirrel thought about what he’d be doing the next day. Watching anime, sitting through superhero movies he’d already seen, browsing Reddit for longer than anticipated… Ray sighed. “S-Sure, I, uh, guess. I-I’ve never been to Sta-Station Square, too, s-ss-so—”

“Cool!” Sonic grinned. “It’s a really awesome city. Big an' exciting… I’ll pick you up at around 1.”

“Oh… Okay,” Ray confirmed, just as Tangle announced the time and began to stuff her remaining snacks into her bag. Ray didn't stop speaking. "B-B-But… d-don't get me anythi-thing, okay!?"

"... _Sure thing_," Sonic said in a mendacious inflection while grabbing his olive-green tray.

Tangle threw pistachios in front of the mobian across from her.

“Have fun! Take pics you two,” she said with a warm smile, already turned to leave the table. Then, she was gone.

Thus, Ray and Sonic were left. The squirrel smiled warmly at his friend, who instead eyed the mess that remained in front of the flying squirrel. R-Right, he needed to clean up...

That was when an unwelcome jerboa-weasel appeared behind Sonic, dished out squinted stares, and left in silence.

… At least Ray couldn't say lunch was lonely.


	8. gift

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not dead...! *cough*
> 
> Quarantine granted me the free time needed to edit this and finally post it, haha.
> 
> Drop a comment if you'd like!

**SATURDAY**

_ Why is she egging me on? _

_ It’d never happen, so why make me think it could? _

Ray, already dressed in his favorite light blue hoodie and black jeans, contemplated, staring down the ceiling on the stiff, plastic-covered living room couch. The analog clock ticked ahead and his refrigerator hummed, which served as calming background noise to the squirrel’s pondering.

_ And are _ _ they _ _ seriously up to something? _

_ Will he be by my side again…? _

Ray's thoughts wouldn't stop returning to one particular hedgehog. He was always there, his face, his person, his smile. He just wouldn't leave, even as his mind wandered off…

It developed an image of Station Square, one based off of movies, television shows and advertisements he’s seen of various metropolitan cities. It was nighttime, under a matte sky and an absence of clouds. People of various species crowded around: foxes in ragged clothes selling goods by the sidewalk, panda tourists taking photos of the city, overworked squirrels hurrying to their destinations, lavish hedgehogs posing for a crowd of paparazzi. Skyscrapers and billboards towered above him, shimmering and glistening with vibrant colors on every surface.

Beside the squirrel was Sonic, of course, admiring the area as well. The hedgehog turned to Ray and smiled a smile so authentic and warm that it shined brighter than the lights all around them.

Ray laughed, he laughed. They spoke with merriment and walked with mirth. The air was cold but Ray felt none of it. People were all around them but all Ray could see was his blue…

… _ friend _.

At that moment, he bumped into another mobian. The squirrel apologized at the ground, but looked up to see a red armadillo, peering at him, eyes sharp and full of disgust. The squirrel was frozen in place. His heart was ice cold and the air turned heavy. The red mobian’s mouth was curved, his nose was scrunched, and his brows were furrowed, angry, peeved…

“_ You’re… You’re a f**—? _”

An Instagram call abruptly interrupted Ray’s daydream-turned-nightmare. He snatched his smartphone and answered it without hesitation.

“H-H-Hello…?”

“Yo, it’s Sonic! You ready?”

Huh… he still didn’t have Sonic’s actual number.

“A-Ah,” Ray glanced at the clock. 1:03 PM. “U-Uh… W-Wow, the t-time went b-by quickly.”

“Haha, I know right?” Sonic said. “Time flies when you're jogging around the city...”

“Oh…” A thought flashed in Ray’s head. He smiled sheepishly.

“I'll be there in a sec. 93 Almond Road, right?”

Ray gave an ‘Mm-hmm,’ and Sonic returned a ‘See ya!’ The living room was quiet again.

The squirrel turned the TV on as a way to keep his thoughts at bay. Some shonen anime just began, with characters throwing powers at each other and internally reciting monologues in the midst of combat. It was enjoyable enough that Sonic texted him that he was outside halfway through the episode and those eleven minutes felt like five.

Ray shut off the television and grabbed his phone and wallet with only $7 and some change. He made sure to turn on their cheap house alarm, and then slip on his threadbare Converse high tops. At last, he had left his house, only to find, in front of his tattered front yard, a dark-blue BMW.

The sports car glistened under the midday sun, even though it was the middle of winter, as if the vehicle itself parted the clouds for its own spotlight. Ray’s eyes studied the custom black rims with crisp strips of white light in them, as well as the perfect sheen and vibrant paint job of the car's exterior. It looked… _ futuristic_.

All Ray thought was that it _ definitely _ didn’t belong in front of his house.

A gloved hand escaped from the driver-side window and waved to the squirrel. Ray slowly approached the car, and when he was about a foot away, the passenger-side window lowered. It revealed a grinning blue hedgehog (in a really nice, black collared shirt), sitting on a chair made of clean, jet black leather.

“Yo!” he gave a peace sign.

“U-Uhm…” Ray could only point at the car.

“Oh… I… got it ‘bout a month after I got my license… back in November,” Sonic shared.

Ray was without words, or at least words that could express how he felt about a sixteen-year-old with such an expensive car. If his mom had something like this, she'd actually kill him if he _ thought _ about laying his hands on it.

Sonic lowered a brow. “Comin’ in?”

Ray blinked. “I… I don’t e-even… wanna… step inside…”

“Why?”

“It-It’d be like… sh-shit-shitting on a pile of g-gold…”

"Aw, I dunno, man… It'd only be like stepping on it," Sonic snickered.

Ray scratched his head and mumbled, "Uhhh… I d-dunno…"

Sonic sighed. “Fine, sure, I guess it’s a nice ride, but there’d be something even nicer.”

Ray’s mouth curled. “Uh… what?”

“If my really rad friend would just get in already.”

The squirrel’s eyes widened from his frankness. He grabbed his right arm, and with his free hand, he slowly opened the car door, careful that it didn’t go near the sidewalk the hedgehog was far too close to. He gingerly fit himself through the narrow opening and placed himself in the most comfortable car seat he has ever sat in. With a gentle door close and the clicks of two seatbelts, Sonic skidded off.

**·X×X×X×X·**

With a name like _ Sonic _ and hands on a super-sports car, Ray expected his friend to speed _ way _ more than he did (which was only once just to amuse himself and terrify the squirrel), but after watching him drive for a bit, he noticed that he was more rule-following, careful and defensive than any other sixteen-year-old who could get their hands on such a car. Maybe it was because he was inside with him? Maybe he didn't want to put other drivers in danger? Or maybe because he’s trying not to wreck a Chaos-damned _ BMW _!?

Ray immediately turned to Sonic as the thought crossed him. “H-Hey… uhm…” He almost dropped the question, but…

“What is it?” Sonic asked. His fingers danced as they sat before a red light.

“Uh…” Ray trailed off again.

“Dude, you can ask me anything,” Sonic said, stepping on the gas after he saw green. “I won’t care, _ unless _ it’s a murder confession or something…”

Ray paused, but asked anyway, “Are… A-Are you… r-rich?”

Sonic spoke, “Uhhhhh…” He quickly glanced at his friend, and the awaiting squirrel had genuine puzzlement in his eyes. The hedgehog sighed with a hint of a smile.

"Yeah, rich in personality and looks."

Ray raised a brow and let a smile out. "_ And _ dodging quest-questions."

Sonic's smile widened as he merged onto the highway. "That was number _ eighteen _ on the list, thank-you-very-much."

Ray guffawed, rolling his eyes. He looked out the window, watching Star Light City lower below a raising highway. He shrugged, “It’s whatever… I-I-I mean, like, m-most of y-you guys at S-SLT are rich anyway… I-I-I-It’s just…”

“Uh-huh?”

“I-I… dunno, b-but…” Ray rubbed his hands together and kept his arms close to his body. “Y-You're n-not as, l-like, hoity and fl-flashy like the other p-people at SLT. You don’t e-even… have any expensi-sive stuff on… exce-cept for m-maybe your shoes… Th-Thought you h-had the same, uh, e-entrance thing as me."

Sonic paused. "That grant thing, right?"

"Mmhm," Ray nodded. "F-From Soumerca Tech to St-St-Star Light, at-at least in my case."

"Downgrade if you ask me," Sonic quipped before some laughter and a 'No kidding' from his friend.

Sonic sighed, then continued. "Well, I guess… Showing off _ waaayyy _-overpriced watches and keys to helicopters or whatever? Just... not my thing."

“A-A-And s-so you drive a… a B-BMW to my house.”

“You know… it was either this or a double-seated bicycle,” Sonic said.

They both turned to each other and smiled.

"Yeah, y-y-you might as w-well s-sk-skip leg day for eighty days,” Ray commented through laughter.

“Hey—” Sonic wagged a finger at Ray. “—_ Forty _ days each. It’s a two man job.”

“Y-Yeah man, a-a-as if I’d pick up t-ten percent of the slack, l-l-let alone _ fifty _,” Ray said, lifting a leg. “The-These noodle legs for-forg-get to walk sometimes.”

That prompted a small yet hearty laugh from his friend. Ray’s spirits were lifted above the clouds. He brought them down a bit.

"W-Well, y-you're s-s-still doing a great job…" he suddenly added. "Bein' all… relatable and gr-grounded, I guess… I-In your own words, uhm: Real… Real cool."

Sonic snickered. "A hedgehog can only try his best. Seems like his squirrel friend can say the same." He quickly turned to Ray with a warm expression. His blushing had to be obvious at this point, but Sonic's gaze had returned to the road before he could really notice.

They drove another mile or two in relative silence before Ray broke it, asking to connect his smartphone to the car through Bluetooth for some music. Connected, he navigated to the music app on his phone and searched for a song he thought Sonic would appreciate. Without realizing, and just as they stopped behind some traffic, he chose one of the many classic heavy metal songs on his phone as he scrolled.

A few drums escaped, but the squirrel was able to pause it before the third second mark. Yet, to Ray’s surprise, the hedgehog asked him to play it again. Ray cautiously tapped it, and to his _ greater _ surprise, Sonic recited the first couple of lyrics with perfection.

“Only way to feel the noise is when it’s good and loud… So good I can’t believe it, screaming with the crowd!!”

The squirrel’s mouth was agape while Sonic head-bopped to the subsequent bit of guitar. Well, it _ is _Motörhead, but he’d never expect Sonic to fancy their songs; he seemed like the opposite of a metalhead. They both chimed in as the chorus played.

“_ DON’T SWEAT IT! WE’LL GET IT BACK TO YOU! _ —” (simultaneous head bop) “— _ DON’T SWEAT IT! WE’LL GET IT BACK TO YOU!” _

As traffic died, Sonic’s head-bopping and singing died down, yet Ray’s energy seemed to go the opposite direction:

“**_OVERKILL, OVERKILL, OVERKILL, AAAAAAAAAAA_**—”

As songs and songs and more songs played on, Ray vigorously head bopped and Sonic hummed as much as he could without losing focus of the road. Ray hopped on his expensive seat with not a care in the world. Ray was gleaming, and his friend was smiling with him. Their voices and emotions were perfectly synchronized, and nothing could interrupt the squirrel’s happiness.

Except for exhaustion. That came by pretty quickly with a neatly-wrapped nap.

**·X×X×X×X·**

About two tolls and a nap later, they were finally shuffling through crowded roads and coursing under mountainous buildings; they had at last arrived at Station Square fifty-seven minutes later. Ray began to take pictures with his phone, recounting Tangle's request from lunch.

After he got a few, two questions popped in his head. He turned to his friend.

“W-Wait a moment… aren’t y-you i-in y-y-your f-first six m-months of having a li-license?”

“Yeah?”

Ray hesitated, then asked, “Am I… Am I s-supposed to be i-in here?”

Sonic stopped for a moment, narrowing his eyes. He spoke slowly, “Am I… Can I not have you as a passenger?”

Ray slowly turned his head away from Sonic, looking through the windshield. “Uhm… m-most likely… n-not…”

“Hmph,” Sonic breathed, then he shrugged. “I’ll just eat the ticket if I’m pulled over then.”

Ray chortled at the joke he thought of. “Your rich is showing.”

“Sh-Shut up,” Sonic said, laughing throughout.

**·X×X×X×X·**

Sonic stylishly maneuvered his way inside of a parking garage, and from there they walked to the closeby clothing store.

Almost everything Ray imagined was laid in front of him—almost. It was not nighttime, so he wasn’t able to gawk at the lights in amazement. Instead, dark clouds barred sunlight from pouring onto the sidewalk they strolled on, and light snow sprinkled down and repeatedly tapped their heads.

Everything else was as he imagined, however. The buildings were impossibly tall, with one of the tallest in his view of an unorthodox shape. Rivers of diverse mobians traveled to and fro, making mobility on the city’s sidewalks quite limited, but not impossible; so the two boys walked together, making sure to never lose sight of the other. Despite the organized chaos, Ray continued to take photos of anything that caught his eye, including a woman selling weird feral squirrel sculptures by the street.

Before long, they reached the store, a designer boutique with a name Ray couldn’t pronounce, in which Sonic’s suit awaited. Inside, the building was immaculate, with countless stylish mannequins posing for pictures in priceless clothing, and walls of handbags and jewelry he thought was absurdly priced.

Sonic queried the man behind the front desk for his outfit, sending the weasel off into the back of the store. Ray looked at the suits and tuxedos that were displayed throughout another section of the first floor. The cheapest was $799.

"S-Sonic…"

"Eh?" Sonic said, leaning his muzzle on his hand. He was obviously bored.

"Uhm… so-sorry if th-this offends you but… You're not really a-a… tux guy, right?" Ray mumbled at the end, and he rubbed his shoulder.

"Not a bit," the hedgehog slid off the front desk and stretched. "My mom just, like, _ begged _ me to get a nice suit for pics."

"Oh… s-so a suit."

"A suit it is," Sonic repeated before the weasel from earlier appeared with a stark white blazer with a black trim and matching pants. It looked… _amazing_.

They followed the man to a set of full body mirrors, and Sonic immediately put his suit and pants on (the latter behind a door, of course).

Ray stared in awe. or admiration. or infatuation. Whatever it was, Sonic's outfit looked perfect on him, and it left the squirrel's mouth noticeably agape.

"I see you like it," Sonic mentioned as the man made sure the suit fitted him well. The weasel spoke quickly and precisely, but Ray couldn't hear any of it. He was speaking to Sonic, afterall.

What Ray did notice was the black box the gentleman handed his friend. Out of it were gloves that were very close to the ones Sonic wore all of the time, only that the oversized cuffs were a golden yellow instead of white. It didn't match anything on his new outfit (except for the gold buckles on his shoes, which Ray assumed wouldn't be worn during the dance), up until he also put on a bow tie of the same shade.

Sonic turned to Ray, palms open, arms spread at his waist. He smiled, "Yay or nay?"

"Y-Yay… L-Like, the 'yay' a k-kid would make if y-y-you gave 'im a giant lollipop…" Ray attempted a joke.

"So… like an ecstatic screech?" Sonic added, prompting both boys' laughter.

Sonic disappeared into the changing rooms and Ray waited in front of them. He looked around at the various accessories that were on display, then turned to the suits that were to his right.

Without his friend noticing, Sonic peeked out of the changing rooms’ entrance, tiptoed to the weasel and whispered to him. The gentleman responded with a question.

Sonic turned around and asked Ray naturally, “Hey, so, just askin'... what’s your shoe size in comparison? Mine's 14.”

“Uh… 12,” Ray immediately answered. He took a moment, then, “W-Wait, why…?”

“_ Just askin’ _,” Sonic turned back around and nodded at the gentleman, who left for a moment. Ray noticed.

“I… hope you’re not get-getting me anything, S-S-Sonic,” Ray marched towards his friend. “I m-mean it.”

“Ray, dude, I just wanted to know,” Sonic assured. “I’m getting shoes for myself.”

Ray huffed out. He continued to look at products on display as Sonic completed his purchase. The buyer waved goodbye after grabbing his plastic-protected suit and a bagged large, black box (or two small ones… as Ray hoped was not the case).

Outside the store was a Y-intersection, and on the other side was a restaurant called Frank's. The hedgehog's eyes were fixated on its sign.

Ray raised a brow. “What’s o-over there?”

“Just, uh, the best chili dogs in Station Square,” Sonic answered in an almost-dreamlike state.

Next thing Ray knew was that he’s eating the first chili dog he's ever had… and he'd been _ missing out _.

**·X×X×X×X·**

5:29 PM. The two teenagers were finally at Ray's home after their short trip of shopping, eating (way too much), and walking it off through the city. Ray was content—more than content, really—with how his day played out; it was spent with the closest friend he made in years, after all.

Pretty… sad, being honest. The squirrel sighed through his nose.

He carefully slid out of the car, and just as carefully closed the door. He turned to his friend and bent over a lowered window.

"U-Uh… th-thanks for the tr-trip," Ray mumbled. "It w-was fun."

"No prob, man," Sonic winked. "Next time try not to blind as many people with your camera's flash."

Ray snickered. "A-A-And y-you gotta stop feeding tables w-with chili…"

"Hey, not my fault they're dumping the _ entire _ supply of chili on one dog," Sonic quipped back. Ray's nose let out laughter, though he grew a frown again.

"Well uh… s-s-see ya—"

"Oh!" Sonic voiced as he snapped his fingers. "Almost forgot."

He reached behind his seat, in which a bag containing two boxes (that Ray found out was two just then) fit snugly between his seat and the rear deck. He rammed one of the boxes into Ray's hands.

"AlrightbyeRaySeeyaMondayHadfun!" Sonic rushed through his words just as much as he rushed slamming the gas pedal and driving away.

Ray stood still, watching his friend's car disappear behind faraway home-shacks. Tire screeches over there, and pure silence over here. He looked down at the item in between his palms.

_ Sonic bought something for you… _Be grateful.

_ But it's gonna be expensive as fuck. _It's a gift.

_ You. don't. deserve it. _ It's a _ gift _, Ray.

Inside of his kitchen, opening the gift revealed a pair of sleek black dress shoes and a black bow tie, as well as a receipt with a written note on the back:

'i'd recommend something blue'

Ray internally facepalmed. Guess he's forced to attend the dance, or else Sonic's expensive kindness (or calculated forcefulness) would go to waste. Ray didn't even _ think _ about flipping the receipt over before throwing it away.

What he _ did _ think about was what Sonic scrawled on the back. Ray _ did _ look solid in any shade of blue... but he ruminated on similar, outlandish meanings, racking his brain and sighing at his thoughts.

_Something blue..._

_You look good in blue, huh?_

_Blue scarf, blue eyes, blue tattered shoes..._

_Blue, blue, blue..._

_Yellow goes well with blue, doesn't it?_

_Doesn't it...?_

It was all he could think about for the rest of the night.


	9. admirer

**MONDAY**

An eventless Sunday later (save for the quick matches of Smash Ray spent with his lesser-skilled friend), and school was back in session. Ray, one of many highschoolers who refused Monday's ineluctable wake with all-nighters, walked his usual morning path with extreme exhaustion. Fortunately, it was cleared of out-of-dresscode birds and potential assaulters, and so, the squirrel's only enemies that morning were icy pathways and his droopy eyelids.

Up until he spotted an admirer.

But not his—_definitely _ not his. He peered beyond incoming students and at a potential admirer of _ Sonic_: the yellow, purple-haired mobian from earlier… Thursday, was it? She walked next to the hedgehog, giggling her morning mehs away next to a guy who was doing the same. What Ray really caught attention to was the way Sonic looked at her, with the same warm smile he usually gave to him, but a little different. Maybe… a little friendlier? Ray didn't realize, but he was frozen in his tracks to watch the entire scene unfold.

"Oh, hey Ray!" Sonic waved across the street, before looking both ways and crossing it with the other. Once they reached him, she started to speak.

"Hi! _ You're _ Ray? Nice to meet you!" the yellow… mobian offered a handshake. Ray took it as loosely as he could.

Eyes trace up from her hand to see a striking, spiked, black-and-green bracelet, a punk style of dress shining through SLT’s stringent dress code. He also took notice of her fuzzy cheeks and ear piercings… _ and _ her ears… A mongoose?

_ How cool… _

"U-Uhm... H-Hi… You s-s-seem to kn-know me f-for something," the flying squirrel of topic said with a slight delay. Stupid statement, he thought, before letting his buck teeth bite his lip.

"Do you _ know _ how many times your name came outta this dude's mouth?"

"How can I not mention O' Brave Ray?" Sonic said with smugness on his face and a "Medieval" tinge on his tongue. "With only a pinch of my assistance, the yello' knight fought off _ four _ armed opponents with his mere _ bare hands _."

"I-I did n-nothing of the s-sort…"

Sonic shook his head and loudly whispered, "Ray, rule #1 of storytelling: 'If they weren't there, it's free real estate.'"

"And r-rule 2 is an a-amendment of-of rule 1 that states: 'But i-if it l-l-looks like bullshit a-and s-sounds like bullshit, it's bullshit,'" Ray whispered back.

"And rule #3 is an amendment of that amendment that says: 'Refer back to rule #1, _ specifically _ the real estate part.'"

Ray began to smile. "And th-then rule 4—"

"Aaaand you guys don't want to face the school's rules if we don't get to homeroom on time, right?" the mongoose (?) interrupted.

"Meh, fine," Sonic shrugged. Ray immediately frowned. "But Ray seriously needs to improve on his storytelling skills."

"Wh-Whatever…" the squirrel let a small smile creep up.

"Oh, uh, right… I don't think I introduced myself," she mentioned as they walked inside. She stepped forward so she was next to Ray, and extended her hand towards him. "I'm Mina. Mina Mongoose. No 'the', please."

"O-Oh… okay…" he shook her hand again. He didn't understand what he was feeling exactly, but it was anything but delight.

"She's in a really cool band called the Forget Me Knots," Sonic mentions as they climb the stairs. Ray was somehow pushed behind them. "'Her singing can wow even the hardest dictators, make babies cry of joy, part the seas—!'"

"Oh shut up!" Mina said jokingly. "I dunno why my bandmates were hypin' me up like that."

"_Maybe _ 'cause you deserved it? You were killin' it when you were practicing the other day."

"I had a lil' cold… It wasn't _ that _ good…"

Sonic lightly gasped. "Y_ou had a cold? _And you _ still _ sang that well? Need I say more?" Mina giggled lightly.

"Wh-Wh-What kinda music… do you… do you guys make?" Ray stepped into the conversation for… obvious reasons.

"Oh, uh, punk, alt rock… That kinda shebang," Mina happily answered.

"Music for people with good taste, as you’d know," Sonic turned to Ray. Ray felt a smile surface after Sonic turned back around, remembering what happened in the car.

Sonic continued. "S_oooooooo_… that's _ exactly _ why we should go to that show thing!"

"Ugghhh… I d-dunno man…"

"What, you think we'll go around and broadcast a blunder y'all make or something? We're not like that, I can assure you."

"Yeah, but—"

"Uhm… wh-what show thing?" Ray quietly asked.

"The Knots are playin' at the Mics n' Bangers Lounge tonight at 9:10," Sonic explained. "Wanna go?"

"M-Maybe… Dun-D-Dunno… If you d-don't mind, I guess…" his friend pondered.

"Then that's settled," Sonic folded his arms right when they made it to the fourth floor. "We'll be there, and we'll only be there to cheer you on."

Mina sighed and smiled. "Fine… Th-Thanks, then. Hopefully we can have a kickass show for you two."

"I know you can-_Knots _… disappoint," Sonic said with a smug smile. The other two violently cringed at his pun. "Peace!"

With that, Mina hurried to her homeroom and Ray stayed behind. The hedgehog turned to his friend.

"Excited?" Sonic asked him.

"U-Uh… sure…" Ray's eyes darted left. "Uhm… I-I _ will _see you four-f-fourth period… r-right?"

The hedgehog smirked. "I mean, yeah, it _ is _ my fourth period class. Gotta be there, un_fortunately._"

"R-Right…" Ray shut his eyes and flattened his lips. "Duh…"

"We're gonna have fun; don't worry!" Sonic gently punched Ray's shoulder. "See ya later."

"Bye…" Ray waved lightly. Sonic disappeared into his homeroom as Ray turned around, sighing. He stepped away for a moment before thinking about Mina, and instantaneously feeling a burning sensation in his face. Like… anger… a dejected kind of anger that rang in his ears…

Or, wait… Is he getting…?

Ugh, never mind.

**·X×X×X×X·**

This time during lunch, Ray was prepared with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, some celery, extra peanut butter for the said celery and two boxes of orange Hi-C. He felt like a prince.

On the other hand, Tangle had a smaller heap of snacks this time, as well as a quite noticeable frown.

"Hey, T-Tangle… You alright?" he tried.

"No…"

Her answer was short and concrete. Something he could never do. "Why?"

She sighed, then shook her head. "My BFF won't talk to me. She's bein' quiet… or, well, more quiet than usual." Ray frowned, too.

Before he could respond, Sonic appeared next to her, and Tangle immediately masked her sadness as if nothing had happened. "Hey Sonic! How was, uh, Station Square?"

He placed a Subway bag down and sat behind it. "Oh, it was pretty fun. Ray has a billion pictures he can show you."

"Oh, ha, yeah," Ray pulled his phone out, finger on the Photos app and—

"Hey guys."

All three mobians turned their gaze towards the new arrival, who was standing straight with a tray between spiked bracelets. Ray immediately glowered.

"_M-Mina? _" the lemur gasped.

"Tangle! Long time no… talk!" Mina waved eagerly.

Sonic glanced back and forth between them. "You two know each other?"

"We went to the same middle school," Mina explained. "Tangle was pop-u-lar!"

"Okay, don't butter me up too much, Adele," Tangle playfully warned. "You were a big shot, too."

"Me? Sing like _ Adele the Gazelle _? Are you mad?"

"Well, keep practicin' and you'll see where that takes you."

"Are you threaten-menting me? How _ dare _ you!" They both laughed. The boys stared in confusion.

The mongoose cleared her throat. "Well, uh… I always kinda sat on the stairs, sooooo… I just… Do you guys mind if I sit here?"

The tablemates answered concurrently, but one of the answers was a hard 'Yes'. Sonic and Tangle turned to Ray. His eyes darted and he cleared his throat.

"I-I… I mean, y'know… Yes… Yes, you can sit here. I-I-I got confused," he lied. The others continued to stare.

"Uhhhh… okay…" she gently lowered into the seat next to Sonic and he smiled _ wide _ at her. It struck a chord in Ray's chest. A low chord. It stung.

He looked down at his half-eaten lunch as the others ate theirs and sighed. Is he being a serious asshole? He has to be… So why is he acting like this? He doesn't want to… She seems like a kind person… Like, come on, Mina's Sonic's friend…

_ Why should you care? _

Only a friend…

_ You think he’s like you? _

There’s still a possibility…

_ This is your chance, Ray. _

She won't ruin your chances.

_ But she's perfect for him. _

It'll never be anything more—

_ You know it _ _ will__— _

"Y-Yo, hey, uh, you goin' to the dance this Friday?" Tangle queried Mina excitedly. Ray thought she had glanced at him before doing so, but he was so lost in his head that he wasn't so sure.

"Yeah… yeah I am…!" Mina gleamed. "I hope it's fun! Uh, how does everyone's outfit look?"

"My dress will be a surprise!" Tangle spoke with open palms. She was finally smiling wide. "It's really sick though."

"Got a pretty cool suit. Nothing special—"

"Ooh! Can I see? Did you take a photo?" Mina prodded. Ray looked down.

"Uhh… Yeah, I did…" Sonic muttered. He pulled his phone out and quickly showed her a changing room selfie. She gasped quietly.

"Nothing special? You look awesome! The bowtie, the shoes, the _ suit_…"

Sonic laughed. "Looks like my fit got its #2 fan, huh, Ray?"

Sonic turned to his quiet friend in what felt like forever. The upset mobian stared back. The emotion on his face was obvious. He uttered, "Ye-Yeah… I guess."

They stared at each other for what felt like a full minute. Sonic spoke up, "Hey Ray, are you alrigh—?"

"Hey, eight minutes left!" Tangle interrupted, shooting up from her chair. She spoke without a single pause. "I'm gonna get soda from the teacher's lounge, since they have 'em. Somehow. You two want any?"

The mongoose and hedgehog she pointed at shook their heads. She circled around to Ray's side of the table.

"You're comin' with me 'cause I'm not going alone!" she commanded as she tugged on his left arm.

He was whisked away from his seat. "I… uh… O-Okay!" They headed off towards the other side of the cafeteria, where a hallway masked by a bright green wall and the general direction of the teacher's lounge was located.

Tangle stopped right when it was impossible for Mina and Sonic to see them, and she turned towards Ray. Then, she extended her palms and flashed a face that could only read, '_ What the hell are you doing!? _'

Ray's eyes narrowed. "Wh-What!?"

"Dude! You know what Sonic's thinking right now?" she began. She deepened and dude-ified her voice. "'Aw, jeez bro, Ray's bein' a real party pooper next to our new frienderino.'"

"That's… n-nothing at all how he sounds…" Ray laughed a little as he spoke, even giving an eye roll.

"Ray!" she yelled his name sharply. She calmed down slightly. "I just… you gotta know that… Mina's not the cutsie, wootsie, date-y type."

"Aaannd… wh-what does that have t-to do with me?"

"Because it's _ obvious _ why you're being such a downer. But there’s no need to worry, okay?"

Ray shook his head and let out an ‘ugh’. "About what?"

"Them… and—"

"Their chem-chemistry? Th-Th-Their sh-shared interests? The f-f-fact she's a-a… perfect fit for-for a perfect person?" Ray listed off with a hand clenching his left arm. "Th-Thing is, I-I-I don’t need to see much to kn-know where th-th-this is going. My brain is just… is just t-too slow in realizing that… I-I need to s-stop chas-si-sing after fantasies—"

Ray and Tangle immediately stiffened when a male teacher walked by and greeted the two teenagers. They waved back timidly and stared at the floor, breaths airy and lips tight until the coast was clear. Tangle took in a deep breath and spoke softer.

“Come on, Ray… I don’t know how long you’ve known her _ if _ this wasn’t the first time you’ve even _ spoken _ to her, but you gotta listen to the gal who’s known her since middle school: They'll _ never _ happen. There’s _ no _ interest. Like, this is the first time she’s even _ sat _ with us—”

“I've seen the w-way they speak to each other… m-multiple times…” Ray spoke solemnly.

“Ray, again,” Tangle rolled her eyes. "_F__irst day she sat with us!_ You’ve literally seen them speak to each other like twice—”

“A-A-And last week. And this mor-m-morning. And n-now. Th-The-Then what? Then t-t-tomorrow, then the day after—”

The lemur's voice grew in volume. "So, what, you're just gonna give up?"

Ray snapped back, "How am I gonna _ give up _ if I never _ gave in_, T-Tangle!?"

She was silent for a moment—a long moment, in which they just looked at each other. Dejection creeped up on Tangle’s face before she spoke again, "I… Ray—"

"The s-soo-sooner I stop daydreaming a-a-a-and blush-blushing a-and shit, the… th-the sooner I stop being s-such a… a… a fuckin’ jerk t-t-to Mina…. She doesn't d-deserve it; she-she’s cool, r-really cool,” Ray said, calmer and with a low-spirited expression. He felt something brewing in his eyes but held it back with steep aggression. “And you— N-No… _ I _ need t-to-t-t-to remind myse-self th-that… she’s… well, she’s a she. I _ need _to be realistic—”

Tangle shook her head and interrupted, “That doesn’t matter! You can’t just cut yourself out like this, Ray. You gotta listen to me when I say that you and Sonic have something different…" She turned her head in the direction of Sonic, missing Ray’s melancholic expression.

"W-We have nothing, Tangle. Nothing…” Ray ended, backing away from the other. He exited the hallway, returning to their table just as the bell rang overhead. Tangle watched him, peeking out from behind the wall, wistful sighs escaping her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> rip my fic apart and give me constructive criticism
> 
> Also thanks for reading! Hope you all are staying safe.


	10. wings

**MONDAY**

"I-I have to_ wh-what?_"

Ray's mother scratched her head and sighed next to a girl on her phone and a boy with chaos in his eyes. Ray opened his palms more from her unresponsive response.

"Well, your sister… asked, this time, and I thought that it'd be better than the two paying for a babysitter so soon…"

Ray sighed deeply. Yeah, the whole screaming match was a whole week ago and she _ was _ her daughter, but _ darn _, didn't she feel like she was being treated like a tool?

And it _ had _ to be tonight.

"Well, at least they're picking them up at 9," Ray's mother flung her palm flat. The other tightly held a to-go shake. "No more of those darn… 'drop-em-off-and-go-party' nights, thankfully…"

The departure time cheered the young squirrel only momentarily, before he immediately remembered that those two were _ never _ on time for _ anything _.

Welp.

Guess no show, then.

_ Not that he should be complaining… _

_ Then they can spend some time together instead… _

_ Break any chances… _

_ And just get this stupid crush out of his head— _

"I'm so sorry if you had any plans," Ray's mom muttered. She sounded _ genuinely _ sad. "I know you have that Sonic friend of yours now, and you're reacting as if you were expecting—"

"O-Oh, uh, n-no, mom… I'm… I'm fine…" Ray falsely smiled. He grabbed his left arm and diverted his eyes. "I— I'll do it… I didn't have a-any plans…"

His mother shook her head. "I'll make sure this is a more… infrequent thing, okay? Thank you, sweetie." She kissed his forehead (and thus just a ton of hair) before taking her handbag and leaving.

Ray stared at the door a while longer before his male cousin spoke up without taking his gaze off his phone.

"Would you make me a sandwich? No mayo and extra turkey, thaaaannnksss!"

Ray's eyelids narrowed. _ That jar of mayo might just "suddenly appear" down your throat, you turd… _

**·X×X×X×X·**

Four hours later with the two creatures upstairs and a dusty textbook in his face, Ray had already accepted death for the day, if only it had accepted his request. He shifted in the kitchen chair, procrastinating on his phone and browsing adorable subreddits, before he got a text from a certain someone:

**·■[ ]■[ ]■[ ]■·**

_[ yo! ill pick u up at about 8:20 ]

7:44 PM

**·X×X×X×X·**

Wait… _ Did he never tell him!? _ His niece and nephew have been even more of a colossal headache than ever before, making him lose concentration on things other than preparing sandwiches and navigating Netflix. Maybe that's why he never said anything…

Or… maybe he was… afraid—

N-No, no way.

The squirrel's thumb pressed the notification at light speed.

**·■[ ]■[ ]■[ ]■·**

I'm not going anymore. I have to take care of ] l

[ my annoying niblings. ]_

7:44 PM

_[ really? ]

7:44 PM

_[ i can hire a sitter for u ]

7:45 PM

**·X×X×X×X·**

He… He _ can _, can't he? Would it piss his mother off? Maybe if his mom and the sitter were to introduce each other through video—

No. Why is he even considering the idea? No handouts, no sitters. More Mina, less him.

**·■[ ]■[ ]■[ ]■·**

My mom wants me to do it. I already brought ] l

[ that up. ]_

7:45 PM

_[ huh ]

_[ well that sucks. i bought the tickets alreafy ]

7:47 PM

[ Aw man… Sorry Sonic… :( ]_

[ I bet they were expensive, too… ]_

7:47 PM

_[ its not the cost ]

[ and doesnt matter, thats less c dogs for me

_[ lol ]

_[ well then have fun, mr responsible ]

7:48 PM

_[ peace ]

7:49 PM

**·X×X×X×X·**

Ray took a deep breath, in and out. It felt terrible lying to Sonic (which, he found out then, was much easier to lie behind a phone screen than face-to-face), but any more hangouts meant more hoping and blushing and giggling and crushing…

He didn't need that. Not again.

Not… again…

He shut his eyes tightly, attempting to think about something, _ anything at all _, other than that day…

Other than the blue skies, the thick greens, the yellow stupid squirrel and the red adventurous armadillo…

Vibrant, lively, colorful… A perfect duo traversing through perfect scenery. A calming break between ancient findings through the thickest of thickets. Untapped vegetation surrounded them as they admired a gorgeous waterfall in the distance.

And the stupid squirrel _ had _ to ruin it for him…

The stupid squirrel _ had _to turn to him…

The stupid squirrel _ had _to vomit at him…

Three regrettable words, the idiot vomited, standing there like a hopeful fool.

The adventurous armadillo turned to the hopeful fool. He was a statue, hardened and petrified. Confused, worried.

The confession that crawled out of the squirrel’s mouth and slithered into the armadillo’s ears was awfully, _ awfully _ nauseating, drilling an immeasurable pit in his stomach and clouding his thinking, clouding every thought of every adventure of every mere interaction with that stupid fucking squirrel, a stupid fucking squirrel who _ dared _ to look at him like _ eye candy _ , like _ anything more than a-a brother, a friend _—

Every thought could only produce stammering.

_ "Y-Y—… lo—… wh-what—?" _

The stupid squirrel's smile gradually straightened. He looked dead in the other's eyes in pure perturbation.

The look… The look on his face…

“_Come on, Ray…_”

The adventurous armadillo stood exasperated. Curled lips, furrowed brows, eyes downcast and full of utter disgust…

“**_You’re… You’re a f*****?_**”

The stupid squirrel whimpered. Bitten lips, bent brows, eyes wide and full of terror.

Three regrettable words.

Three regrettable words, vomited at the other.

Three… regrettable—

"STUPID!!"

Ray's eyes shot open cold, and he was suddenly face to face with a small, angry squirrel.

"What's for dinner!?" he yelped. "I'm so hungry I can eat a fatass pig."

Ray rubbed his head. He gulped, "Langu-guage… A-And, I-I-I dunno… w-we can have mac and cheese or someth—"

"Whatever it is, make it quick," his nephew shrugged. From that, he returned to Ray's bedroom.

Ray groaned. He sat there, staring at his homework, thoughts blank, or perhaps disarranged. In routine, he turned his phone on to check the time—

_ and i-it's 8:50!? _

Thank _ Chaos _ for ten-minute Kraft…

**·X×X×X×X·**

Barely living on the couch now, Ray faux-listened to the television while Pips and Nadia chewed on macaroni like cows in the kitchen. Feral cows, of course.

Checking his phone, Ray read the time: 9:25 PM. The band started already. He can only imagine how skilled they were: the drummer's hands a blur, the bassist dishing out pure honey, and the guitarist playing an eccentric melody that rained upon the crowd like a tempestuous storm. And then, at the helm was Mina, hitting high notes and never letting a single voice crack come through.

Or, well, he didn't need to imagine, as Sonic began to send him short clips of the performance in their Instagram direct messages. Reciting lyric after lyric about a relationship that's not working, Mina Mongoose and the Knots' guitarist (who was some dolled-up raccoon) hyped up an audience that was getting louder and louder as the skillful performance continued.

While Ray wasn't getting much from the mid-quality, short bursts of videos, he listened as the electric-guitarist raccoon skillfully dished out a part of a solo. His fingers moved impossibly fast and his sound was incredible. The crowd cheered with the rhythm, obviously impressed with what's happening on stage.

Ray watched another video in which the chorus played out, with Mina singing her heart out and Sonic hollering louder than the patrons around him. He was having a ton of fun…

while Ray laid lonesome, bored, sad, and cold as hell.

Eventually, Sonic stopped sending him videos, to his dismay, and his niblings were busy upstairs doing… kid things. Thus, Ray dropped the phone on his belly, staring at the ceiling with nothing to distract his brain from, well, his brain.

New friendships, the batting assaulters, Station Square, missing out on rock concerts… _ Chaos _, a lot had happened over the course of six days. Or, well, "a lot" as defined by his generally uneventful life—a dull, lonesome life in which he rotted away playing Switch games, reading Reddit comments, eating, crying or sleeping.

Oh, _ and _ going to school… but that was the last place he wanted to think about. Schoolwork, the Bully Squad, _ ugh oh Chaos _ Fitness Club…

And Tangle…

… Sonic…

_ Mina… _

The squirrel sighed through his nose, clenching his fist. Yeah, it was time to think of something else—

The chimes of an Instagram call started to play. Ray swept up his phone and, of course, it was Sonic. Who else would it be?

It was a video call, and so, Ray hastily fixed his hair and slipped on his glasses before the ringing ended, as if he needed to look extra presentable for a _ friend _. He answered it, fixing his earbuds as it connected.

On the other side of the screen was a grinning hedgehog.

"Yo, Ray! What's up? How's the ‘niblings’?" Sonic asked towards the screen. He was somewhere pretty dark, save for some orange light to his left, and wherever he was echoed his words back for the entire room to hear.

Ray let a smile slip. "Th-They're… alright, I-I-I-I gue… gue-guess. How wa-was the perform-ma-mance? S-Saw you’re ha-having fun."

"Oh, it was awesome! You _ so _ should've pulled u—"

And, immediately, a certain mongoose popped into frame, bedazzled with gothic makeup and even more ear piercings than before. Ray forced his smile to remain.

"Heya Ray! How's it goin'?" Mina said with an exuberant amount of cheer, and enough to dish Ray his own reality check.

He forced a smile. "H-Hey Mina. Sonic s-sent me some videos a-a-and you wer-were… you were _ great _ up there."

“Great?” Sonic turned to Mina. "She was _ incredible _! The entire crowd loved it.”

She giggled, “Bleh, thanks. It means a lot…”

“_ Bleh _? The only thing bleh was them not letting you guys play another song,” Sonic tittered. “Seriously.”

That moment, Ray heard a bodiless voice call out for Mina, asking her if they were ready to depart. After a shrill ‘Coming!’, the two callers turned back to the squirrel.

Sonic spoke, “We’re going to a nearby wing place soon. According to Mina, they’ve got the best wings in Star Light City.”

Ray clung onto his left arm tightly as the two continued to speak among themselves. His throat felt heavy while voices bickered in his head.

_ They’re having dinner together. _

It’s just wings. It’s just friends getting wings.

_ You already know where this is going, Ray. _

“Ray.”

_ What the hell are you still clinging onto? _

There’s a chance—

_ For you to stop liking him. _

“Ray…?”

But I don’t… I don’t want to be alone…

_ You’re not even with him. _

I… can be…

_ You want this to end horribly again? Drop it, you fucking idiot. _

I don’t want to be alone…

_ Drop it— _

“**Hey, Ray, are you okay?**”

Sonic’s concerned voice slapped Ray back into reality. He scanned himself and realized he was practically digging his nails into his fur and breathing heavily to his earbuds’ microphone.

Ray blurted in panic, “Y-Yeah, I’m fine…! I-I-I just—”

_ Shit. _ Think of _ something _.

“— I, uh, just star-started to think about… s-some homework— er, a-a-a pr-project I-I-I have t-to do…”

_ … That was horrible _.

Sonic and Mina both glanced at each other. Their faces were washed with concern, and Sonic obviously didn’t buy it. Mina spoke.

“Hey, I’m gonna go pack up a little more… Just come whenever you’re ready,” she let out a small smile towards Sonic. He nodded and she departed. Ray bit his lip.

Sonic looked around then faced his phone again. “Ray… are you alright? You’ve been out of it today.”

Ray forced some sort of smile. “I-I-I’m okay… Just… J-Ju-Just… Just, uh, stre-stressing…”

“Just stressing… about a project?” the hedgehog’s eyes narrowed. “Ya sure, man? You can tell me if anything’s up, y’know.” He scratched behind his ear.

The squirrel shuffled in his seat, nodding frantic. His smile was faker.

“I’m sure, S-Sonic… Sorry f-f-for worrying you,” Ray apologized before biting his lip again.

His friend gave an incredulous sigh. He smiled with a lowered brow. “Fine, if you say so… Want me to get you something?”

“Uhm… N-No thank you,” Ray mumbled, holding his stomach.

Sonic smirked, “What? Can’t handle spice?”

“Wh-What?” Ray said. “I-I-I can, b-but—”

“Then expect wings in an hour or so,” Sonic promised before Mina shouted in the background. He held up a peace sign. “See ya later.”

And before he could protest, Ray’s friend disconnected from the call. An unwelcome stillness, yet short lived, since a doorbell ring from behind him killed it.

**·X×X×X×X·**

After some insouciant thanks from his sister’s family, Ray sat at his small kitchen table with a bowl of leftover macaroni and cheese. It was pretty unpleasant, so his energy was placed less in actually eating it and more towards a sudoku puzzle on his phone.

He’s _ bored _.

It was 10:49 PM and his eyelids were heavy. He beat his personal best by two minutes and he wasn’t even completely awake… Maybe if he just tackled these in the morning—

_ Ding-dong. _

Tiredness was knocked out of Ray’s head. His eyes fixated on the door, he wondered _ who _ could’ve been behind that door at _ this hour _. Then, his phone buzzed.

**·■[ ]■[ ]■[ ]■·**

_[ it’s me ]

10:50 PM

**·X×X×X×X·**

What a… short, slightly creepy message… especially with recent incidents in mind. Ray gave an awkward chortle before getting up and opening the door.

Yet, Sonic wasn’t alone.

“Ooooo, nice home!” a mongoose fit her head between the front door’s crack. “Cozy.”

“O-Oh… H-Hey, Min-Mina,” Ray said quietly. He opened his door a tad wider.

“Hey Ray,” she stood straight again. “Everything’s alright?”

Ray bit his lip before answering, “Uh, yeah… Yeah, j-just… stressing.” His voice turned quieter.

“Well, finish any work you need to get done by Wednesday,” Sonic suddenly said. Ray raised a brow.

“Oh, right,” Mina gleamed. Her eyes were friendly. “‘Cause you missed the show, Sonic was thinking of doing something super fun Wednesday—”

“So make sure that schedge is cleared,” Sonic winked at Ray. He also held his hand out, which had a bagged styrofoam container hung up by two fingers. “I’ll give you details at lunch. And don’t say you have nieces and nephews you gotta take care of that day…”

“Um… I…” Ray’s eyes darted at Mina, who smiled wider. He put on a smile as he grabbed Sonic’s bag. “Th-There won’t be a-any… I’ll-I’ll be there.”

Sonic smiled broadly. It radiated. “Then it’s a plan! And I mean it this time.” He winked.

Ray smiled genuinely, and he felt warmness in his cheeks. He turned to Mina. “W-Will you… Will y-you be th-there?”

“Hopefully,” Mina shrugged. “Matters on whether or not my mom likes me doing stuff on a school night.”

His eyes glaced at the floor. Ray’s mouth straightened and he took a deep breath. Looking back up, a real smile crept up and he spoke,

“Well, I hope you can make it.”

It seemed as though it caught her by surprise, but Mina’s eyes were washed with appreciation. “I hope so, too!”

Sonic then ended the meeting off, “Well, that’s it, then. Oh, by the way, that’s their second spiciest, so make sure your toilet’s free in the next few days.”

Mina laughed through her nose. The duo said their goodbyes and Ray solemnly closed the door behind him. He stood still, exhausted from doing nothing but jumping the first hurdle in a row of many, many more.

Did they really need to be jumped over, though?


End file.
